Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan
by Thayerblue1
Summary: A crossover between Naruto and Tenjho Tenge. Starts at the beginning of Naruto and features Tenjho Tenge characters as part of the Naruto universe. Main Characters are Uzumaki Naruto, Natsume Maya and Hyuga Hinata. See inside for details.
1. Chapter 1

_**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**_

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE:_

I wanted to try this idea out to see how it goes over. I haven't seen that many Naruto/Tenjho Tenge crossovers (there are only 9 on FF and Tenjho Tenge is underrepresented anyway) so I thought I'd give it a shot. If it turns out there is no interest I'll just delete it and move on. This is a semi AU of sorts based in the Naruto universe and features some of the characters from Tenjho Tenge (mainly the Natsume clan). Natsume Maya is part of Naruto's graduating class (the age of the class is upped to fourteen) and her younger sister Aya is twelve years old at the beginning. Maya and Hinata (if you hate Hinata read no further) will be Naruto's primary romantic interests. Even though they are polar opposites they are also friends. This will eventually be a harem story (god help me) but no one is set in stone except those two.

One last thing that is radically changed from Naruto canon is THERE IS NO AKATSUKI. The Akatsuki characters _will_ exist as individual S-Class criminals here and there but they won't be part of an organization hunting tailed beasts. There will be explanations for all of this later but that much is set in stone. The only other thing of note is I may skip Wave Country (not sure but it's been written many thousands of times) and the Chunin Exams may not follow canon exactly. Expect a smarter, more competent Naruto due to Maya's encouragement even though he's still dead last in written tests.

The primary sources for this are Narutopedia and the Tenjho Tenge Wiki. I'll be using elements from both the anime and the manga from both series so if there is a question check there. Also, the Tenjho Tenge characters will be using chakra instead of ki in this story.

Without further ado, here we go:

Chapter 1

 **The Village of Konoha, Ninja Academy**

Uzumaki Naruto was sitting in class listening to Iruka-sensei drone on about Konoha's history or some other such nonsense. Naruto was actively _fighting_ to stay conscious. It was a losing battle. Just about the time he was starting to droop over and fall asleep he felt a sharp prick in the back of his neck from directly behind him. " ** _YEOUCH!_** " He screamed at the top of his lungs. "I'm awake! I'm awake! I was just resting my eyes…."

Behind him Natsume Maya was stifling a giggle and covering her surprise as she put away her automatic pencil. The rest of the class exploded into laughter at Naruto's expense and Iruka sweat dropped. "I'm _so_ glad you're awake Naruto. Can you tell me what we were discussing?"

"We were discussing your ' _put the entire class asleep with your boring lectures no jutsu_ ' Iruka sensei. I think it's S-rank. It works better than sleeping gas." said the prankster just as a piece of chalk hit him square in the forehead.

"Moron! This is for your education!" yelled Iruka. "Pay attention!"

Soon the lunch bell rang and Iruka dismissed them to eat. Naruto saw a chuckling Maya come over to Naruto. "Come of Naruto-kun. You can have lunch with Hinata-chan and I."

"Why did you stab me in the neck Maya-chan?" pouted Naruto.

"I just poked you with my automatic pencil to wake you up." said Maya. "I didn't think you'd yell like that. I'm sort of sorry."

"Sort of sorry?" deadpanned Naruto.

"Well, it _was_ funny the way you reacted." said Maya with a smile. The two bickered/chatted till they made it over to the tree they usually sat under to eat with Hinata.

Hinata slowly came over to join them and sat down. It still made her nervous talking to Naruto-kun but at least she didn't faint and stutter as much anymore. "Hi Maya-chan; hello Naruto-kun." she said as she slowly sat down.

Naruto said, "Are you okay Hinata-chan? You look like you're really hurting today."

Hinata nodded. "I just overdid it with my juken training last night. It's nothing to worry about. I already put some healing cream on it."

Maya frowned. "You need to stop that and let your body heal Hinata-chan. You've been pushing yourself _way_ too hard."

"I-I'll try." said Hinata sadly.

Soon the three of them were discussing the day and Naruto's scream that would wake the dead which even Hinata giggled at.

Across the playground Uchiha Sasuke was watching Natsume Maya. He was currently surrounded by fan girls vying for his attention and was ignoring them as usual. He'd carefully studied Maya as the years went by and he found that she was both a prodigy and a _very_ serious kunoichi. She was skilled with swords and owned an incredibly powerful nodachi called the Reiki that was exquisite. On top of that she was beautiful with her long silver hair and already well developing body that all the other girls were envious of. He wondered why Maya always sat with the shy Hyūga and the class clown Naruto. In Sasuke's eyes she was ideal material to help him revive his clan. She was from a nearly extinct clan like he was (though she still had a little sister) and would need a strong alpha male to continue her line as well. It made no sense to the Uchiha why she would associate with a clanless orphan like Naruto….

Sasuke had attempted to talk to her on occasions but he was at a bit of a loss. Maya totally ignored him. There was once he got in her face but the look of anger in her eyes told him a fight would result if he didn't back off. Now Sasuke knew he could take her in a fight (she was a girl after all) but that would be counterproductive if he eventually wanted her to be the new matriarch of the Uchiha Clan. Besides, for her to stand up to _him_ and look him in the eye took guts and he liked that. There was also the dead last Naruto. Every time Sasuke tried to get Maya alone for some quality discussion the orange wearing clown would show up and irritate Sasuke until he would leave. Maya seemed to enjoy Naruto's company but Sasuke for the life of him couldn't figure out why a kunoichi of her talent and caliber woiuld even tolerate Naruto for a second.

Sasuke promised himself that day he would ask Maya out to lunch and treat her to a date before they graduated the Academy. He had plenty of money and there wasn't a restaurant in town that wouldn't open their doors and roll out the red carpet for Uchiha-sama. He just had to figure out how to court her properly. She wouldn't be easy to catch but the best things in life never are….

Later after class let out for the day, Naruto, Maya and Hinata went their separate ways. Hinata was picked up by her guard Kō, Naruto took off to his apartment and Maya waited for her little sister Aya to get out of class a few minutes later. Aya was a very bubbly free spirited girl that greatly admired her older sister.

"Nee-chan!" said Aya with her long brown hair fluttering in the wind behind her. "I'm so happy that class is out. What are we going to do today?"

The much more serious Maya said, "Today we're going to practice your sword skills. You're doing well with the katana but I want you strong enough to wield a nodachi like I do.

"You think I can wield the Reiki someday nee-chan?" asked Aya. "I feel it _call to me_."

Maya put her hand on her younger sister's head and said hollowly. "It called to Shin nii-san too and we both know what happened. I can't risk it Aya. I know you're a good girl but it changed nii-san from a loving brother into...something else. As the Reiki's guardian I alone have to safeguard it in case nii-san comes back after it."

Aya got a sad look and nodded her head somberly. "Do you think he'll come back for it?"

Shaking her head 'no' Maya said, "I don't think that will ever happen but we have to prepare for all possibilities. You didn't see what I saw Aya-chan."

The two sisters started heading towards the village outskirts where their home was. Most people nodded in a friendly and respectful manner to the two girls often addressing them as -'sama.' They were the last of a noble clan and were treated as such. It was difficult for two young girls to get by but they did well enough. Many people pitied them for the tragedy that befell their family but Maya was always very self sufficient and was trying to guide her sister to be the same way.

The Natsume sisters never wanted pity and always refused hand outs and many found this to be very admirable. They were viewed as tragic princesses much the way Uchiha Sasuke was viewed as a tragic prince. The similarities were startling as well, both Uchiha Sasuke and the girls had older brothers that went inexplicably insane and murdered their families. The Natsume sister's older brother Shin was considered an S-Class criminal and lost the Reiki to a very insistent Maya at the time. Maya's bravery at making her older brother hand over the sacred nodachi through sheer guts as its guardian made her a minor legend in Konoha.

Between that and the sisters carrying the power of the ryugan in their veins (though Maya hadn't manifested it) they were considered vital to Konoha's future. Needless to say they had dozens of suitors and fan boys waiting in the wings as well. Couple that with the fact they showed every sign of being even more beautiful as they grew older (their late Mother had been gorgeous) and many were already asking for their hands in marriage already.

The only thing people didn't approve of was the company Maya kept as the Natsume heiress. They were fine with Maya being close to her friend Hinata (after all, Hyūga Hinata was the heiress of the noble Hyuga Clan). But on the other hand they didn't approve of the fact she befriended Uzumaki Naruto who was the village pariah. Time and again villagers had tried to gently persuade Maya that Naruto was 'bad' and it was 'unseemly' of someone of her stature to associate with such trash. She always countered them by asking _why_ exactly Naruto was _supposedly_ so bad.

As none of them could give her an honest answer due to the Third Hokage's Law regarding Naruto they always came up empty and just made empty excuses. Maya's answer always was, "If you can't give me an actual explanation then I see no reason why we shouldn't be friends." which always resulted in a constipated look from the villagers. The truth was the Natsume heiress knew a lot more about Naruto than she let on...

 _Flashback..._

 _A seven year old Maya was playing with her new friend Naruto in the Konoha public park. She'd met him weeks ago at the park and he was all alone so she decided to play with him. She found out he wanted to be a ninja like she did and that he wanted to be Hokage which impressed her a lot. Not many people would consider such a lofty goal. Maya asked him why he wasn't playing with the other kids and he said that their parents wouldn't let them because he was an orphan or something. Being curious Maya looked over at her Mother who smiled and waved at her. After that Naruto was who Maya always played with at the park._

 _Maya was a very observant girl though and noticed how the grownups steered their children away from Naruto but always made a point to have their children ask her to play. Her patience reached its end within a few weeks of playing with Naruto alone so she asked her Mother. "Kaa-chan, why do the other parents not like Naruto?" Her Mother smiled at her silver haired daughter and said she'd explain when they got home and to go play with Naruto for now and ignore the others._

 _That evening the Mother and daughter sat down together. "You feel drawn to him don't you Maya-chan?" Maya got a quizzical look on her face and then nodded. Her Mother chuckled, "Well, women of the Natsume clan are always drawn to powerful men."_

 _"What do you mean Kaa-chan?" asked Maya with a cute but puzzled look on her face._

 _"I foresaw this with the ryugan." said her Mother. "Little Naruto-kun is the last of the Royal line of the Uzumaki Royal Family. Even he doesn't know this and you can't tell him."_

 _"Why not?! asked Maya angrily. "If he's a Prince he deserves to know. Other people should like him; they shouldn't hate him!"_

 _"People fear him Maya-chan." said her Mother seriously. "The Third Hokage made a law that forbids me from telling you the truth. I would like to but I can't on pain of death. It makes no sense."_

 _"I don't understand why people would fear him though. He's fun to play with and he makes me laugh." said Maya._

 _"And you should treasure his friendship Maya-chan." her Mother explained. "Naruto-kun has power; great power. Someday he will be even stronger than the Hokage."_

 _Maya gasped. "Naruto said he wants to be Hokage. Is that why?"_

 _"I doubt it." said the Natsume matriarch. "It's in his blood to lead people. You have to understand though that people don't understand his power and what they don't understand they fear and hate."_

 _"But what what is his power?" asked Maya dying to know._

 _"I can't tell you Maya-chan. It's part of the law." Maya looked downcast while her Mother looked thoughtful. "You know those cute whisker marks you like so much?" Maya nodded. "Think about those and think about the date of his birthday. I can't tell you any more than that. You're a smart girl Maya-chan. I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually."_

 _Three days later Maya's Mother and Father died brutally at the hands of their son Natsume Shin...Maya was devastated by her older brother's actions but Naruto stuck by her and Aya which she was eternally grateful for. Without his support she would have given into despair seeing her parent's bloody corpses. She'd retrieved the Reiki that she foolishly let Shin borrow that caused him to go stark, raving mad. The only good thing that came out of it was Aya hadn't seen their parent's remains and was allowed to keep her innocence a little longer..._

 _It wasn't until weeks later that Maya heard rumors that 'the fox' brought bad luck to the entire Natsume family and should be killed. When Maya confirmed Naruto's birth date as the night of the Kyubi attack she knew her friend's power had something to do with the nine tailed fox. She wanted so badly to tell him but her Mother made her promise and Maya couldn't deny the wishes of her late mother..._

 _Flashback end..._

"Thinking about Naruto-kun again?" asked Aya in a happy, sing-song voice to her sister.

Maya blushed slightly and said, "Whatever gave you that idea Aya-chan?"

"You get this far away look and I feel you reaching out to his strange power." said Aya happily.

"Strange power?" _'Has Aya figured it out?!_ ' thought Maya panicking inside.

Aya nodded. "Yeah, the spirits tell me he has power to do great good or great evil. It somehow is intertwined with you but I don't know how nee-chan. A spirit of a woman told me you were destined to be together. She sounded just like Kaa-chan from what I remember. She told me that Natsume women always seek out powerful men to be their husbands; it's in our blood. Does that mean you and Naruto-kun are going to be married Maya nee-chan?"

 _'Her ryugan is strong to activate this early; she can already talk to spirits. What am I to do? I don't have anything but scrolls to train her with since I don't have it myself._ ' thought Maya with a worried look on her face. "You shouldn't listen to everything spirits say Aya-chan; it could have been a joke she was making."

"I could tell she was serious." Aya said insistently. "She said the bond you share grows stronger by the day and that Naruto-kun will have to take several wives because he is a prince and the last of a royal line. I didn't know he was a prince."

Maya's eyes nearly popped out of her head. She said quietly, "Aya-chan, you must promise me not to tell Naruto-kun or any others any of this without my permission."

"But I-" started the younger sister.

" _Promise me_ Aya-chan." said Maya in an iron tone.

" _Fine_ , I promise." pouted Aya. "I still think Naruto-kun should know though."

"I want to tell him too but it's up to the Hokage." said Maya despondently. _'I've wanted to tell him for years_...'

"We just need to make the Hokage tell him then." chirped Aya in her usual, bubbly voice.

"We can't just walk in and _make_ the Hokage do anything..." answered Maya deadpan with a look of utter dread on her face.

Aya deflated. "Well, is Naruto-kun at least coming over to dinner tonight? I want to see him!"

Maya nodded her head. "Yes, it's Wednesday so he's coming over for dinner and I'm going to help him on his homework."

The sisters walked along in silence until Aya said, "Nee-chan, if you don't want Naruto-kun can I have him?"

" _NO!_ " answered Maya. Embarrassed at her outburst Maya said, "Let's just get home." with a frazzled look on her face.

A couple of hours later the girls were enjoying a soak in the Natsume family hot springs they had on their clan grounds. They'd had a very intensive workout and still had to fix dinner for themselves and Naruto. "I wonder if he's read his history lessons..." thought Maya aloud.

Aya asked, "Nee-chan; how come Naruto-kun is no good at homework but can understand all those fuinjutsu books that Jiji left behind. I don't understand a bit of them."

"Naruto-kun is some kind of genius at seals Aya-chan." said the elder sister. "He's already gotten through the books for a jonin. It's as much an art as it is a science. Jiji told me once that people truly gifted in the sealing arts are extremely rare and most ninjas can't make heads or tails of it. He said it's a special kind of genius. Naruto-kun wants to have a jonin's level of mastery before we graduate in six months...I just wish he worked that hard at his homework." she lamented.

"He just likes being around you Nee-chan." said Aya. "You are his best friend."

"Hinata-chan could help more too if she wasn't so shy." said Maya with a frown. "I need to break her out of her shell so she can show the world what a strong kunoichi she is. I wonder what's holding her back."

Naruto showed up at the front door about an hour later in his usual orange jumpsuit. Maya hated the thing because it was an eyesore and hid his body. Few people knew it (and less people cared) that 'the midget' Uzumaki Naruto had and incredibly strong and athletic body. He had a lean swimmers build without an ounce of fat on him and was rock solid. When he moved his muscles seemed to literally ripple and left Maya all flustered and Hinata with a nosebleed. _'Maybe it's just as well he wears that jumpsuit. It keeps other girls away...What the hell am I thinking?!_ ' thought Maya with an embarrassed look on her face.

Meanwhile Aya let Naruto in and welcomed him. Naruto smiled at the younger sister and said, "Hi Aya-chan; is Maya-chan home?"

"She is in the kitchen fixing dinner." chirped Aya. "After that she's going to help you with your homework."

"Maybe I can look at some fuinjustu books in the meantime then..." said Naruto rubbing his hands together eagerly.

" _Maybe_ you can do your _homework_ Naruto-kun." came Maya's voice from the kitchen. "Once it's done then _maybe_ I'll let you go through Jiji's fuinjutsu books."

"So heartless Maya-chan..." said Naruto pouting. His bottom lip sticking out made Aya burst into giggles.

After a healthy meal Maya sat down with Naruto to do his math and history homework. "When I'm Hokage the first thing I'm going to ban this stuff from the curriculum! Ninjas are not mathematicians!" he declared passionately as he battled his way through his math problems. Maya had figured out the secret to teaching Naruto though. If she made it seem valuable to his ninja career then he would do it. If that didn't work she could threaten to hide her jiji's fuinjutsu book but she didn't like doing that since Naruto got inconsolable when she had to resort to that.

Maya explained, "Look Naruto-kun; if you were laying a complex trap you would have to be able to calculate the trajectory and speeds of the projectiles or they might miss. That's how math helps a ninja."

"Why doesn't Iruka-sensei explain it that way?" ranted Naruto. "At least I can see and actual use for it now!" he said as he gave a one armed hug to Maya that made her blush. "You're the best Maya-chan!" After a couple of hours of cramming Naruto sat back and said. "Done! I couldn't have done it without you Maya-chan."

"You need to learn how to Naruto-kun." said Maya seriously in what Aya called 'lecture mode.' "There's only six months till we graduate and you still need to get down the clone jutsu and bring up your written tests scores."

Naruto said, "But I can do all the practical stuff Maya-chan! When it comes to spars or target practice I'm one of the top scorers. If it wasn't for the bookwork..."

"And the clone jutsu." reminded Aya.

Naruto hung his head. "I put my _all_ into the clone jutsu and they _still_ come out looking dead. What do you think I'm doing wrong?"

Maya sat with a contemplative look on her face. "We need Hinata-chan to help. Maybe you aren't molding your chakra just right or something. I'll invite her over tomorrow so she can watch you do the clone jutsu with her byakugan."

 **The next day**...

Hinata wasn't at school and both Maya and Naruto were concerned for their friend. Just before lunch time Hinata limped into class looking awful and apologized profusely to Iruka for missing her morning lessons. Iruka waved off her apologies "It's alright Hinata; I'll give you the notes for this morning's lessons. Are you sure you should even be here? You look exhausted."

"I-I'll be fine Iruka-sensei." said Hinata before she sat down with an obvious wince. Naruto and Maya looked over at their friend worried.

"We'll talk to her at lunch." said Maya. Neither Naruto nor Maya paid much attention the next hour since they were anxious about Hinata. When the lunch bell finally rang Iruka dismissed the kids and noticed Hinata hadn't moved an inch.

Naruto and Maya went up to both sides of her in her seat and tried to gently wake her up. Soon Iruka joined them in their efforts."She shouldn't have come to class in this state. Hinata; Hinata wake up!" said the chunin gently as he shook her shoulder. That was when Hinata simply collapsed over to one side into Naruto's lap. Her white jacket was stained with blood that had soaked through from underneath. "Good god!" yelled Iruka. "Help me move her down to the floor where she can lay flat Naruto. Maya, go to the infirmary and tell the Academy nurse we have an emergency!"

Nodding rapidly Maya took off and Naruto and Iruka gently carried Hinata down to the floor where Iruka removed he jacket. He and Naruto were absolutely appalled at the ugly gashes and bruises on her normally creamy white skin. Her arms and front were peppered with them from what they could see but her back made her look like she'd been through a torture session. Naruto teared up and said "Why...?" about the time Maya and the nurse came in and the nurse saw Naruto crying for his friend.

"You called me here for the **_demon?!_** " said the nurse angrily. "I'm sorry but I have better things to do Natsume-sama."

That was the wrong thing to say. Before the nurse knew it Naruto unleashed a _massive_ killing intent hit her in the stomach with the speed and power of a charging bull. The woman coughed up some blood and fell to the floor in the fetal position before Naruto wrenched her up by the collar to stare into his furious, tear filled eyes. "If you don't help Hinata-chan right now you old bitch I'll crush you so badly you'll _**beg**_ me to kill you!"

Though Iruka shared the sentiment he said, "That's enough Naruto! Let her go." Naruto glared at the nurse one more time before he dropped her unceremoniously to the floor. "Nurse Momo, I am appalled at you actions." said Iruka coldly."I thought better of you. I'm reporting you to the Hokage. If you don't do everything in your power to help the Hyuga heiress so help me I'll execute you for breaking the Third's Law myself."

The woman was gasping from the brutality of Naruto's blow and wheezed out "No...anything but that…."

Maya turned to Iruka. "We have to take Hinata-chan to the hospital now!"

Iruka said, "I hate to do this." He flared his chakra and yelled, "ANBU!" Three ANBU agents appeared seconds later. They were Cat, Bear and Dove.

When they arrived they saw the school nurse wheezing in the floor, Naruto and Maya very upset over their friend and Hinata's prone form in the floor obviously injured. Iruka stood before them at attention. "Report chunin." said Cat in a commanding tone.

"My student Hyūga Hinata reported in late for class today and collapsed." said Iruka. "I believe she was beaten and/or tortured by an unknown party given the severity of her wounds. This needs to be investigated in my opinion and regardless she needs to be rushed to the hospital considering her injuries.

Cat nodded and she motioned to Dove who immediately started doing a medical diagnostic on Hinata's prone form. Dove soon said, "These are wounds caused by juken strikes. I advise we take her to the secure ward under guard from her family. The severity of these injuries is such that I believe we would be doing a favor emancipating her from her clan."

"Take her to the secure ward and make sure every injury is documented." said Cat. "Note your views on possible emancipation to the Hokage in your report." Dove nodded and she vanished with Hinata in a body flicker. Cat looked at the still wheezing nurse and then at Iruka. "What happened to her?"

Maya spoke up. "The nurse refused to help Hinata-chan because she believed I brought her here to help Naruto-kun; or **_the demon_** as she called him so Naruto-kun punched her in the gut." Both Bear and Cat stiffened. "Iruka-sensei said she broke the Third's Law and threatened to kill her if she didn't help Hinata-chan. I'd be interested in hearing about this 'law' and how it pertains to Naruto-kun."

Cat turned to Bear. "Take the nurse to torture and interrogation and inform Ibiki." Bear nodded and the nurse cried out pitifully as she disappeared with Bear in a body flicker.

Cat glared at Iruka behind her mask making him gulp. Then she turned to Maya and said, "That is classified Natsume-san. You are not allowed to speak of it by order of the Hokage."

"But-" started Maya.

"Cat nee-chan is under the orders of the Hokage Maya-chan." said Naruto. "Just do what she says. The main thing now is Hinata-chan's safety."

Both Iruka and Cat were impressed with Naruto's maturity in this matter. Iruka knew he'd get a tongue lashing later but was about to say he was proud of Naruto's mature manner of handling things.

That's when Naruto continued. "Oh, yes….I'm going to rake Hokage Jiji over the coals and he'll tell me everything I want to know or I'll redecorate this _entire village_ with every color of the rainbow….He'll talk unless he wants to do paperwork until the end of time…." Maya and Iruka sweat dropped but Cat was ridged with terror remembering the 72 hours of hell that happened the last time Naruto went on a rampage….and they never were able to prove it was him….

"I'll _personally_ escort you to Hokage-sama once your reports on your friend Hyūga Hinata is taken care of; I promise Naruto. Just promise your nee-chan you won't do anything rash okay?"

"I promise Cat nee-chan….for now." said Naruto.

Cat figured that was as good as she was going to get out of the Prankster King from Hell. "Ahem….right. Chunin Umino; the Hokage will need a full written report as soon as possible. I will tell the headmaster to make arrangements for your absence. Take it directly to his office. Am I understood chunin?"

"Yes, I'll begin my report immediately." said Iruka with a slight shiver.

Cat turned to the two children and said. "I want you two to stay and wait here while I speak to the Academy Headmaster. When I get back we'll go and get your reports documented okay? Try to remember everything that happened because we need to ask you a lot of questions. Will you behave Naruto?"

"Yes, Cat nee-chan, I will." said Naruto seriously.

"Remember, you two students and chunin Umino are not to speak of this to _anybody_ , understand?" receiving nods from the two Academy students Cat said, "I'll be back for you in a few minutes kids." as she too vanished in a body flicker.

"I so have to learn that cool jutsu!" said Naruto.

"Be serious Naruto!" snapped Maya. "Hinata-chan is really hurt!"

Naruto turned to Maya with a look in his eyes that frightened her. "They will pay for it Maya-chan." he said darkly. "Mark my words that whoever did this to a sweet girl like Hinata-chan is going to _suffer_ at my hands."

The look in Naruto's eyes scared her even more than her older brother Shin's had when he lost it. Maya thought back to her sister's words yesterday. '…. _the spirits tell me he has power to do great good or great evil. It somehow is intertwined with you_ ….' Maya immediately hugged Naruto close. "Don't talk that way Naruto-kun. I'm sure that Hokage-sama will take care of this. Please calm down….You are scaring me and Hinata-chan wouldn't want this."

She felt Naruto's body relax and then sag. He sniffled and said, "Hinata-chan doesn't deserve this! I can take the brutality 'cause I always heal fast but she can't! I want whoever hurt her to be punished!""

The two teens sat down and held each other while they waited for Cat to return….

 **Konoha Hospital, Secure Ward**

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage was looking over the medical reports on young Hyūga Hinata who was sedated. "So this has been going on for months by your estimation Doctor Akira?"

The grizzled old doctor nodded. "This child has been systematically tortured in the same manner as Hyūga interrogators did in the Second Shinobi War. It appears she was healed through medical ninjutsu every time afterwards but the signs are there. She must have an incredibly strong will not to have broken down mentally from the stress. We should keep her in protective custody from her clan. I'd like to find out who did this and do some exploratory surgery on them until they confess. To do this to a little girl is unthinkable. The only positive thing I've found out is she wasn't sodomized or raped. We need to call in a Yamanaka, preferably Inoichi."

"Have all her physical wounds been documented Akira?" asked Sarutobi.

"Yes Hokage-sama. I personally saw to that. Short of an autopsy, which I think we would have been doing soon had this not been discovered, I've done everything possible to examine her and documented _everything_." answered the Doctor with a look of disgust on his face.

Sarutobi nodded. "I want your best people to heal every physical injury she has Doctor Akira. Clan laws or not I will not tolerate this kind of abuse to young Hinata. I assure you heads will roll for this atrocity."

"And my request for Inoichi?" asked the Doctor.

"Granted." said the Hokage in an iron tone. "As soon as he finishes mind walking those responsible for this crime I will send him your way."

 **ANBU Headquarters**

Naruto and Maya were being questioned about their friend Hinata and her recent behavior. Cat was used to dealing with Naruto so she gently explained that everything he could remember about Hinata's recent behavior would help in catching who was responsible. She also assured both children multiple times that Hinata was under the best care possible and the Hokage was personally involved. They were taken to separate rooms to be interviewed. Naruto was pleasantly surprised when he saw who was interviewing him. "Anko-chan!" he said excitedly. "Boy am I glad to see you! I can actually trust you to write down the truth."

Anko and Naruto had known each other for years due to their ongoing war as to whether ramen or dango was the _true_ food of the gods. This had resulted in many prank wars but most importantly they trusted each other very deeply. Neither one of them gave a damn as to what the general population thought of them and Anko often helped Naruto with his taijutsu as she beat him into the ground. She'd also helped him with his weapons training and the two had grown close although the ramen/dango war was still going strong….

"I'm glad to see you too blondie." said Anko. "I heard your friend Hinata you told me about got hurt pretty badly. I need you to tell me about it as a witness. Don't leave anything out but don't exaggerate either. This needs to be the _absolute truth_ because this is a legal document for the Hokage. It's just like a ninja report you would give as a ninja once you graduate. Now tell me when you started noticing things were wrong with Hinata."

Naruto nodded somberly and said, "Well, starting about six months ago Hinata-chan started coming to the Acedemy really sore and said it was because she was practicing her juken training so hard but…."

Maya was with Cat who more or less explained things as Anko had to Naruto. She could tell Maya was very nervous being inside ANBU Headquarters unlike Naruto who was a regular because of his pranks ' _That kid has balls of steel. He even called our head of Torture and Interrogation Ibiki-chan right to his face and he never admitted to anything even after hours of interrogation. Admittedly we didn't go all out on him because he's a minor but still_…."

"Ummm….Cat-san? Did you want me to tell you what happened?" asked Maya wondering why the Cat masked woman was staring off into space.

Cat blushed under her mask. "Sorry, I was lost in thought. I need you to tell me when you first noticed anything different about Hinata at the academy."

Maya looked thoughtful and said, "After our mid-terms Hinata-chan seemed shyer than normal and wasn't doing as well in spars. She slowed down a lot. Before long she started coming in hurting and said she'd overdone it sparring at home. I told her she needed to give her body time to recuperate but it progressively got worse. Now I think she's been being abused and has been hiding it…."

 **Hyūga Compound**

"What do you mean Hinata-sama is missing?! We haven't had time for our medics to treat her yet! _Find that girl at all costs!_ " yelled a main house member with a panicked look on his face as branch house members scattered in a fearful flurry of activity.

Hanabi poked her head around the corner. ' _Heal her? What happened to Hinata nee?_ ' she thought puzzled.

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, we'll see how this little detour from the norm goes over. I'm currently working on chapters for Lunar Eclipse and Dragons Maw so I might be able to squeeze another chapter out of this story this month if it proves worthwhile. Blue out. 5/12/15

EDITED 5/22/15


	2. Chapter 2

_**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**_

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE:_

 _Well, I've decided to continue this story. I hope to update it fairly regularly like my three main stories but there are no guarantees. At any rate it's not going to be shelved for later like_ _Journey to Lyonesse_ _and_ _Vakyrie_ _. Here's chapter 2:_

Last time:

 _"_ _Ummm….Cat-san? Did you want me to tell you what happened?" asked Maya wondering why the Cat masked woman was staring off into space._

 _Cat blushed under her mask. "Sorry, I was lost in thought. I need you to tell me when you first noticed anything different about Hinata at the academy."_

 _Maya looked thoughtful and said, "After our mid-terms Hinata-chan seemed shyer than normal and wasn't doing as well in spars. She slowed down a lot. Before long she started coming in hurting and said she'd overdone it sparring at home. I told her she needed to give her body time to recuperate but it progressively got worse. Now I think she's been being abused and has been hiding it…."_

 ** _Hyūga Compound_**

 _"_ _What do you mean Hinata-sama is missing?! We haven't had time for our medics to treat her yet!_ _Find that girl at all costs!_ _" yelled a main house member with a panicked look on his face as branch house members scattered in a fearful flurry of activity._

 _Hanabi poked her head around the corner. '_ _Heal her? What happened to Hinata nee?_ _' she thought puzzled._

Chapter 2

 _"If_ _You_ ' _re_ _Going Through Hell_ , _Keep Going"_ _\- Winston Churchill_

 **The Village of Konoha, Secured Hospital Ward**

Hyūga Hinata awoke feeling the pain that had wracked her body for months was completely gone. She didn't understand it. The Hyūga healers were always instructed to do just enough for her to get by. When she left for the Academy this morning she'd been in agony. The last thing she remembered was listening to Iruka-sensei's lecture. ' _Where am I?_ ' thought the young heiress. She tried to sit up but noticed multiple IV's and heart monitors hooked up to her. ' _Am I in a hospital? The room has no windows and the door looks armored. What's going on?_ ' Hinata's stomach growled and she felt very hungry. _'I just ate this morning but I feel like I've been starved for days._ '

The door opened and she saw a grizzled old doctor come in that looked very mean. He had numerous battle scars. Contrary to his rough appearance he said in a friendly tone, "Miss Hyūga, I'm glad to see you are awake. The Hokage and your friends have been very worried about you. How do you feel?"

Her stomach growled again and the doctor chuckled. "You must be starving child. You've been out for three days."

Hinata's eyes widened and she squeaked out, "Three days! Oh no, Tou-san will be very angry with me for being so weak." Her eyes started to well up with tears.

The doctor pulled a chair up beside her bed. "Young lady; you are under the protection of the Hokage himself. No one can harm you including your Father. It's clear from all the injuries you had that you've been tortured for months by a member or members of the Hyūga Clan. You are clearly being abused at home and the Hokage will not tolerate it."

Hinata slowly shed tears in silence and the doctor handed her a tissue. "There, there. Your friends Uzumaki-san and Natsume-sama have all but broken down the doors to see you and make sure you are all right. We haven't let them in because you needed to rest. It took three days to heal all of your wounds and purge the poisons from your body…."

" _Poisons?_ " asked Hinata with a gasp.

The doctor nodded. "Yes, very slow acting poisons that caused cardiac muscle degradation. We caught them early enough that they cause very little damage but eventually you would have suffered heart failure."

"But _why_ doctor?" pleaded Hinata. "Doctor ummm…."

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Doctor Akira. I work for the Hokage personally. You don't have to worry about your heart though. As I said there was very little damage and my medical staff has already fully repaired your heart muscle. You are going to be fine with a little exercise."

"My clan….my own _family_ tried to kill me…." said Hinata in anguish. The betrayed look on her face nearly broke Akira's heart.

Doctor Akira gently hugged her and said, "Let it all out little one." He spent the next hour holding the distraught girl as she cried her eyes out. Even though she was hesitant to name the names of those who tortured her at first the identities of all those involved soon spilled out. The emotionally exhausted girl soon fell back to sleep having worn herself out crying. Doctor Akira laid Hinata back down and adjusted the wires on her monitors so she could rest quietly. He quietly exited the room and turned to his right where an ANBU agent was. "Did you get all the names?" he asked gruffly.

The ANBU nodded and said, "Each and every last one of them Doctor." as he handed Akira a list.

"I'm taking this to Hiruzen personally ANBU." said Akira. "If she wakes up again have a nurse bring her some food. The poor girl must be starving. If she asks tell her I went to see the Hokage."

 **Hokage Tower**

Sarutobi Hiruzen was puffing on his pipe as he read the names of twenty six members of the Hyūga Clan that Hinata listed. He looked up at Akira and said. "And young Hinata endured more torture than most prisoners of war because they threatened her little sister Hanabi's life?"

"Yes Hokage-sama." said Doctor Akira. "I might add that Hinata's late Mother died of heart failure extremely young….I want her body exhumed for a full autopsy."

The aged Hokage had a look of pure anger etched across his face. "ANBU Commander Dragon report!" he said as he flared his chakra in a pattern.

Mere seconds later an ANBU with a Dragon mask appeared kneeling before the Hokage. "How may I serve you Hokage-sama?" asked the ANBU Commander.

"Rise Dragon." said Hiruzen as he held up the list of names. "I want every Hyūga on this list locked up in ANBU Headquarters for interrogation later. I want Hyūga Hiashi brought directly to me by force if necessary and Hyūga Hanabi in protective custody! Take her to see her sister Hinata. You have your orders."

Dragon asked, "And if they resist?"

With the exception of Hiashi and Hanabi; kill them if necessary. Maiming is acceptable too if that gets the point across."

"Understood Hokage-Sama." said Dragon as he vanished in a body flicker.

Sarutobi sat down and pulled some imported sake out of his bottom drawer. "Sit down and have a drink with me Akira. We have a long night ahead of us." The two older men sat and drank in silence….

 **Hyūga Compound**

It was about ten that night when the ANBU struck. The nine year old Hanabi was terrified when she was awakened by her caretaker Natsu and was told to go with ANBU by orders of the Hokage. She wanted her Daddy or even Natsu to go with her but the ANBU named Dove said, "Would you like to see your sister Hinata?"

Hanabi nodded with a tear streaked face. Hinata had been missing for three days. "I want to see nee-chan." Dove patted her head and vanished with Hanabi in a body flicker.

Natsu was left standing there very worried about Hanabi-sama. She turned to Dove's partner, Bear. "ANBU Bear-san, what is going on?" she asked.

Bear towered over Hyūga Natsu and said. "By orders of our Hokage Hyūga Hanabi has been taken into protective custody. It is good that you were cooperative Natsu-san because lethal force was authorized in this matter." With that he went to join the other ANBU at the gates of the Hyūga Compound leaving a shivering Natsu behind.

 **Hokage Tower**

Hyūga Hiashi was hustled into Hiruzen's office and forced to sit in a chair. His long hair was in disarray and he was still wearing his silk pajamas. He was lucky the ANBU even let him get his house slippers. The look of fury etched on his face melted away when he looked across the desk at a _very_ angry Hokage. The killing intent from the old man made him gasp. Hiashi felt like a genin again looking into the enraged eyes of _The God of Shinobi_. He saw Doctor Akira was there too who used to be the head of the hospital.

Hiruzen said calmly, "Do you know why you're here Hiashi? Because if you do your two daughters will soon be orphans."

Hiashi's byakugan eyes widened in fear. His usual stoic mask was gone. "I-I have no idea why I am here Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen nodded and said, "Your eldest daughter Hinata has been in protective custody the last three days for juken strike wounds received not unlike those we used for torture and interrogation during the Second Shinobi War. We estimate she's been being tortured for around six months judging by the reports from her classmates and the evidence of her unhealed wounds."

Hiashi blanched. "That's….that is absolutely preposterous! Hinata would have told me!"

"That's assuming you weren't involved in her torture." said Akira as he tossed Hinata's medical files in front of Hiashi. "Please enlighten the Hokage and I as to how you didn't notice _your own daughter_ being in this state Hiashi."

Hiashi was about to retort but Hiruzen cut him off. "Take a **_good look_** at every picture of the wounds on your _fourteen year old_ daughter's body when she arrived at the hospital three days ago. Before you say a **_word_** or make excuses know that I've already reviewed them myself and I am _abhorred_."

 **Secured Hospital Ward**

ANBU Dove came in holding Hanabi still in her sleeping Yukata and knocked on Hinata's door. They heard a nurse reply, "You may enter." Dove sat Hanabi down and the little nine year old who recoiled at the cold tile on her bare feet but peered in the door when it opened. There she saw Hinata finishing off her own weight in food judging by the plates piled up on the cart. Once Hinata awakened a second time her appetite could no longer be denied. Hanabi cried out, "Nee-chan!" as she ran to her sister's bedside.

Hinata was surprised to see Hanabi there. "Hanabi-chan, what are you doing here?"

"The Hokage ordered that she be taken into protective custody as well given the situation." said Dove. "I thought you two might like to see each other."

"Thank you." said a grateful Hinata as Hanabi tried to scale the gurney to get in bed with her big sister.

"Hold it young lady." said the nurse as she pulled Hanabi back. "Hinata-san was injured so she's hooked up to a lot of equipment. Let me unhook it and I'll set you up on the bed okay?"

"It's alright Hanabi-chan. Just be patient a moment." said Hinata gently. Hanabi nodded and saw the nurse unplug the IV and the heart monitors.

"Here we go." said the nurse as she lifted Hanabi up on the bed with her big sister.

After Hinata thanked the nurse, Hanabi hugged her big sister and started shedding tears. "I've missed you so much nee-chan!"

 **Hokage's Office**

Hiashi sat there devastated hoping it was all a bad dream. His daughter Hinata had been systematically abused and was being poisoned to death before his very eyes and he _hadn't even noticed_ because he thought she was just a _weakling_. The reality was she was sick and injured and wouldn't tell anybody because they threatened Hanabi! But there was worse yet to come….

Doctor Akira said, "The poison in your daughter's system was designed to degrade the cardiac muscle so it would appear that Hinata died of a weak heart. As I recall that's what your wife Himawari died of. I checked the records and it seems you never brought Himawari to our regular staff for examination because the Hyūga had their _own_ doctors. Quite a coincidence wouldn't you say?"

The proud clan head buried his head in his hands and let out a weak, "No…." before the tears came forth.

Hiruzen said, "I'm having your late wife's body to be exhumed from the Hyūga mausoleum as we speak for an autopsy. If she was murdered you had better have the names of the medical staff that treated her Hiashi. That's an order from your Hokage."

"First Himawari-chan and now Hinata-chan….How could I be so _blind?_ " lamented Hiashi through his tears. The regret etched on his face was unheard of for the normally proud clan head.

"That little girl was the _picture_ of suffering when they brought her in here! Hinata must have a will of solid steel to have endured all that to protect her little sister she loves so much." growled Akira with a look of disgust on his grizzled face. "Maybe if you actually gave a _damn_ about your daughter you would have noticed Hiashi!"

Hiashi sat up and yelled, "I love my daughters dearly!" through his bloodshot, tear filled eyes.

"I'll bet." sneered the doctor. "Hokage-sama, given the evidence I've seen over the last three days I believe that Hyūga Hiashi is unfit to be a parent. Even if he didn't physically abuse Hinata which I'm not convinced of, he is at least guilty of willful neglect in the highest order. Those two girls should be taken away from his custody for their own safety."

"You can't take my little girls away!" cried out Hiashi with anguish written on his face. "They're all I have left…."

"For the time being they will remain in my custody." said Sarutobi with a sense of finality in his voice. "ANBU, take Lord Hiashi back to his home. He has lists of his family's doctors to retrieve for me. I want those physician's names on my desk by seven in the morning Hiashi. You will deliver then to me _personally_ ; do you understand?" Hiashi nodded shakily from the Hokage's killing intent. "If you're _one minute_ late your days are over Hyūga Hiashi!" The Hokage turned to his ANBU. "Get this worthless man out of my sight!" The ANBU bowed and vanished with Hiashi in a body flicker.

Hiruzen stared at the still open folder that contained the pictures of Hinata's injuries. He sighed and said, "I wasn't the best Father Akira. I was always busy being Hokage and running the Village but I loved my family. But Hiashi letting this happen….it's deplorable! I'll see to it that his daughters are safe even if it's from him. He'll regret this the rest of his life."

 **Secured Hospital Ward**

Hanabi fell asleep snuggled up against Hinata. After a while the nurse came in and agreed the little girl could sleep there even though it was against policy. Hinata thanked her and the nurse hooked up the IV and various monitors before she bid Hinata good night. Hinata was still very drained from the ordeal but having Hanabi safe in her arms did wonders for Hinata as she drifted off into the land of dreams.

 **Outside the Hospital Ward**

ANBU Cat was standing over the two kids that had _once again_ breached security to see their friend Hinata. Naruto had even managed to locate the room she was in. Maya looked embarrassed and a bit shamed but Naruto looked unrepentant and even _more_ determined to get in than yesterday when they caught them doing the same thing if that was possible. ' _Actually, it was a_ _ **damn**_ _good infiltration_.' thought Cat. _'If they'd been against anyone but ANBU they'd probably have made it to their objective_.' Cat didn't praise them of course but she would note this for the Hokage. "Look you two, I know you're worried for your friend but Hinata has her little sister with her right now and it's late. They are fast asleep and Hinata really needs her rest. If you'll just _promise_ me that you'll wait and meet me here tomorrow about an hour after you get out of the Academy I'll _try_ to get permission from Doctor Akira for you to visit her okay?"

Naruto nodded. "Okay Cat nee-chan but if Akira Jiji says no the bets are off."

"I'm terribly sorry for the trouble." said Maya.

Cat sighed. "Don't worry about it Natsume-san; just keep an eye on Naruto-kun for me. Go home and get some sleep. I'll see you two after the Academy lets out tomorrow."

After the two children left Cat was startled when she heard a chuckle. It was the Hokage and Doctor Akira. "Naruto-kun always has a knack for getting into trouble doesn't he Cat?" She nodded tiredly at the Hokage's obviously rhetorical question. "Just how far did they get in?"

"They infiltrated to level four and even had Hinata-san's room number." said Cat. "I'd never say it to Naruto-kun because it would just encourage him but it was extremely impressive. Most _chunin_ wouldn't have made it that far let alone _Academy students_."

"Is there any reason they can't see her tomorrow Doctor?" asked the Hokage.

Doctor Akira shook his head 'no.' "It's fine if they see young Hinata. It would probably do her spirits a lot of good."

"I'm tempted to let the try to infiltrate again." said Sarutobi with a chuckle at Cat's obvious discomfort at the idea. "However, it would be better just to escort them in. I'll leave that to you Cat. By the way, were they caught before or after the security seals went off on level three Cat?" asked Hiruzen with amusement in his voice.

"That's just it sir; the seals didn't go off." explained Cat. "We found that Naruto-kun bypassed all six seals somehow. It was the same on level four. If he and young Maya hadn't been seen by the door guards they would have made it in. Natsume Maya admitted they were waiting for another twenty minutes for the shift change to occur. I don't know how they bypassed the seals, learned about our shifts or figured out where Hyūga Hinata's room was. If it weren't for the fact they were fourteen years old; I'd say they have either an inside person or a listening device. It's kind of scary."

 **The Natsume clan home**

 _"…_ _.I'd say they have either an inside person or a listening device. It's kind of scary_." Naruto and Maya were listening to a seal Naruto had on the floor attuned to the seal he'd added above the entrance to the secure hospital ward.

Naruto pondered aloud, "Hmmm….Maya-chan, I think they're onto us. Do you think that listening seal I planted yesterday was too obvious?"

Maya sweat dropped. "Naruto-kun, no one but some kind of seal master could detect that listening seal you made. They might figure out your listening but they won't know _how_ you're listening. On the other hand, you knocking out those security seals with counter seals _could_ be an issue. How do you plan to explain that?"

"Their security seals were just chunin level." said Naruto dismissively. " _Anyone_ could get by those easily."

Maya frowned, "No, not just _anyone_ could. Most people give up on fuinjutsu early because their brains get scrambled looking at the diagrams and formulas."

"But it's so _easy_ Maya-chan!" said Naruto. "It's a hell of a lot easier than our Academy textbooks. Besides, it's fun inventing new seals. With seals you can do _anything_."

Seeing this argument was going nowhere fast, Maya changed subjects. "What about the Third's Law about you and that woman breaking it by calling you a _demon_ Naruto-kun?"

"I spoke to Jiji and he said we would discuss it after Hinata-chan's situation was resolved." said Naruto

"Sounds like he's just blowing you off Naruto-kun." Maya said dubiously. "You could be a **_prince_** or something for all you know; you should ask him."

"Sure, I'll ask him. If Hokage-jiji doesn't give me the answers I want he knows of the _consequences_." Naruto said menacingly.

"Consequences?" asked Maya. "You mean your plan for painting the whole village every color of the rainbow?"

"Oh no Maya-chan. That's what I'll do if he upsets me." said Naruto with an evil chuckle. "If he really makes me mad and lies I'll redecorate the Sarutobi compound as a brothel and paint every grown male in the Sarutobi Clan as a male courtesan and post advertisement signs all over the village." he said with his face growing more and more maniacal as he spoke.

"You do realize that you could be _jailed_ or _executed_ for that?" asked Maya with a flat look on her face.

"They have to be able to _prove_ I did it Maya-chan. I've looked into the laws. I will admit _nothing_." said Naruto with a tone of finality.

Maya got a shiver down her spine knowing what Naruto said was true and had to stifle a giggle at the mental image of the Hokage in Geisha makeup.

Naruto grinned and said in a sing song voice, "You're _smiling_ inside Maya-chan. I can tell. You want to see a bunch of male Sarutobi courtesans don't you?"

"N-no! It's improper. I would never think such a thing!" denied Maya with a giggle she tried to hide in vain.

"Well, if you won't admit it then I'll have to resort to the Uzumaki Naruto tickle torture!" declared Naruto.

Soon the whole compound was filled with laughter as Maya begged Naruto to stop. He finally did after she admitted a bunch of male Sarutobi courtesans would be hilarious. She finally managed to flip Naruto over and she was straddling his waist. "Now it's time for _revenge!_ " Maya said cackling evilly.

That's when Aya came out of her room rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Nee-chan, practice your seduction training on Naruto-kun tomorrow or in your room. You're being very noisy and I'm trying to sleep." Aya said as she went back to bed.

Both Naruto and Maya blushed red as a tomato and leapt away from each other. "I-it is getting rather late; I'd better head home." stuttered Naruto nervously.

"Just use the s-spare bedroom and crash there." stammered an equally flustered Maya.

After they both said goodnight, both Naruto and Maya went to bed in their respective rooms and Maya dreamed about Naruto while Naruto dreamed about swimming pool sized bowl of ramen….with Maya and Hinata in it….

 **Next Morning, Konoha Ninja Academy**

"It seems the Hyūga Princess isn't here again. I guess she's _too good_ for the Academy." said a purple haired girl sarcastically. "Maybe she's dropped out since she's done so poorly of late."

The girl's friends laughed. "You right Ami! Someone so spoiled isn't ninja material."

Maya got in Ami's face. She never liked the bullying purple haired girl anyway. "You'd better shut up about Hinata before I kick your ass Ami."

Ami cringed but one of her lackeys named Fuka said. "You and what army cockroach girl? Just because you so called _nobles_ stick together doesn't mean you're so tough." Fuka didn't notice Ami waving her hands 'no' in the background.

"Cockroach girl? I thought everyone outgrew making fun of my bangs." said Maya in reference to her unique bangs that stuck up like antenna. "I guess I'll have to teach you girls a lesson when we spar this afternoon."

Sasuke was sitting at his desk brooding as he watched Maya talk to some of his fan girls. Secretly he was pleased to see the beautiful Maya was going to put these commoners in their place. Frankly, Maya was superb in combat regardless but it was only natural for her to be at the top of the pecking order given her noble blood. He sometimes wondered why Hinata wasn't the same but the girl was simply too timid for his tastes. Besides, there had been bad blood between the Hyūgas and the Uchihas for generations. Much to the Uchiha heir's disgust he saw Naruto come over and start talking to Maya eagerly and saw her lovely blue eyes light up and immediately smile.

' _What does she see in that orange wearing idiot anyway?_ ' thought Sasuke. He decided putting Naruto in his place this afternoon in a spar would show Maya the truth about things. Sasuke came over to Naruto and Maya and greeted her properly. "Good morning to you Natsume; I look forward to seeing you spar with the other girls this afternoon. Of course it should present little challenge to a kunoichi of your caliber."

Naruto said in a bored tone, "Why are you sucking up to Maya-chan Sasuke? You've got plenty of fan girls to talk to."

"I didn't ask for your opinion trash." said the Uchiha heir harshly. "I doubt you'd understand meaningful conversation among those of noble blood anyway."

"You're just a prima donna Sasuke; you're no more noble than I am with the way you treat others. It's no wonder you don't have any friends emo-chan." sneered Naruto. It had taken a few years but Hinata and Maya taught Naruto not to be such a hothead. That wasn't to say he didn't have a temper though.

Sasuke said, "You piece of garbage; I'm going to crush you in the spars later today."

Naruto got a bloodthirsty smirk. "Is that a challenge Sasuke-chan?"

Sasuke colored up and said, "You heard what I said. You won't be any challenge to me."

"Good." said Naruto. "Then don't go crying to our senseis and the nurse when I stomp a mud hole in your ass and walk it dry." Several people cringed at Naruto's statement. Normally Naruto sparred to have fun but it was a well known fact that if you pissed him off he would _hurt_ you. Naruto might lose the spar but whoever he fought would end up going to the infirmary regardless. More than one student got big headed with Naruto and ended up in the hospital because of an ' _accident_.' Naruto knew how to fight dirty and vicious thanks to Anko's tutelage and employed that to maximum effect when he wanted to.

Sasuke turned to Maya and said, "I don't see how a Lady of your caliber can tolerate someone as vulgar and disrespectful as Uzumaki. You should seek more wholesome company."

"Who I have as my friends is none of your business or concern Uchiha." said Maya curtly.

Sasuke was about to try to reason with her but Umino Iruka came in and yelled. "Everyone get to your seats. Sit down and shut up!" Seeing his words had the desired effect (for once) he continued. "This morning we will be studying language and math. After lunch we will have weapons practice and sparring matches so be prepared."

Half of the class cheered when they heard that they were sparring later; the other half was worried or frightened….then of course they heard a quiet "Troublesome…." from Shikamaru. Naruto simply smiled showing his longer than normal canines.

The morning passed slowly but Naruto managed to stay awake by some miracle. Just before they let out for lunch Iruka said, "Naruto; stay for a few minutes after the lunch bell rings." The rest of the class snickered at Naruto's expense (except Maya). The bell rang and Maya said she'd meet him by the tree as she left.

Naruto's mind was abuzz with why Iruka-sensei had asked him to stay after. _He hadn't even done anything today!_ He wondered if Iruka suspected he was the one that chloroformed Mizuki-sensei last night, dyed his hair hot pink and shaved a reverse mohawk on his teacher's head before varnishing it all for proper preservation….then he doused Mizuki in cheap women's perfume so he smelled like a whorehouse…. _Naruto would deny everything_. Coming down the stairs Naruto asked innocently, "What did I do wrong Iruka sensei?"

Iruka smiled at his favorite student. "You didn't do anything wrong Naruto. I mean, your grades aren't so hot as usual but I noticed in the past year you handwriting has changed from barely legible chicken scratches to absolutely beautiful calligraphy. I know you're doing the writing and not cheating or anything but I just wondered why."

Naruto made an 'O' shape with his mouth and said, "I'm studying fuinjutsu and your handwriting has to be perfect for it. If it's not the seal won't work properly so I practice my calligraphy every single day."

Iruka was shocked. ' _Naruto self studying –and something esoteric as the sealing arts? Is the world coming to an end?_ ' After looking out the window to check if the sky was falling, Iruka asked Naruto, "Say Naruto, can you make a sealing scroll yet?"

Naruto got a flat look on his face as if to say, ' _Really?_ ' "Iruka sensei, sealing scrolls are so elementary that even a complete _idiot_ could make one. I'll show you a **real** seal after class tonight. I've got some time to burn but right now I need some lunch."

Iruka was a bit shocked at his goofiest student having such and serious, pontificating tone in his voice. "Ummm….Well, I'll look forward to it Naruto. Go ahead and have your lunch while I grade some papers. Shame I don't know the shadow clone jutsu; I could divide this in half."

Naruto perked up. "Shadow clone jutsu Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka nodded. "Yes, it's an advanced jonin level clone that makes solid clones from chakra. It has an enormous chakra expense though so I can't use it. You should be more worried about _regular_ clones though Naruto. You have to start with the basics after all." That was when Iruka noticed his student was long gone. He sighed. "I guess Naruto was really hungry."

Naruto dashed out of the Academy building to sit and have lunch with Maya but found Sasuke was there talking to her. "Why don't you come join me for some real conversation over lunch instead of wasting your time waiting around for that buffoon?"

Maya's eyebrow was twitching in irritation. She was quietly waiting by herself to start lunch with Naruto when this stuck up prick arrived and started harassing her. Suddenly she saw Naruto jet out of the building towards her and said, "If you'll excuse us Uchiha, my friend Naruto is here and we'd like to eat in peace and quiet."

"Sorry I'm late Maya-chan!" said Naruto intentionally getting in Sasuke's space. "Oh. I didn't see you there Sasuke-chan. Sorry you were waiting for me. I'm afraid you'll have to wait until later for me to kick your sorry ass." Sasuke stormed off so he wouldn't lose his temper in front of Maya. "Bye Sasuke-chan!" Naruto called after him in a sing song voice.

"You really shouldn't goad him Naruto." said Maya with her blue eyes narrowed. "I don't like to say this but he is a strong opponent and you're taking him way too lightly."

"On the contrary Maya-chan, this is psychological warfare." explained Naruto. "I want him so angry and wound up that he'll do something really stupid I can take advantage of."

Maya smiled wickedly. "You have a devious little mind Naruto-kun. I like it. Did Anko teach you that?"

Naruto shook his head 'no.' "Actually it was Ibiki and his mind games. One day he was deliberately trying to piss me off into admitting to doing something I was totally innocent of-"

"I'll bet." smirked Maya.

"-and I figured out what he was up to." finished Naruto. "If it hadn't been for you and Hinata-chan teaching me to rein in my temper I would have blown my stack."

Maya smiled happily. "It's good to see that some of our efforts have had results."

After that the two friends talked about inconsequential things and class. They were both looking forward to this afternoon's spars. Neither brought up the subject of seduction training for some odd reason though.

 **That Afternoon** ….

Weapons training went as usual. Maya got a perfect score and Naruto got eight out of ten. Iruka just shook his head. If Naruto brought his scores in his bookwork up he wouldn't have the title of 'dead last.' On the other hand, Iruka really _was_ interested to see if Naruto really knew fuinjutsu. ' _Oh, well. I'll find out soon enough_.' Iruka secretly hoped Naruto really could do fuinjutsu well. It was a rarely practiced art and it would make him a valuable ninja to Konoha. That was when his fellow sensei Mizuki showed up and stole the entire show.

Mizuki had been at the hospital all morning and woke up with his hair completely spiked hard as a rock, dyed hot pink and with a nicely shaved path down the center of his head. He'd been horrified and tried to wash it only to find the high gloss finish on his head was one hundred percent waterproof. He tried to cut it with scissors but it was too strong. His girlfriend Tsubaki came by to check on him and smelling the cheap perfume on him (Mizuki couldn't get rid of the scent for the life of him) assumed he'd been in the red light district last night when she tried to call him and left crying thinking he'd cheated on her. (The truth was he was under the effect of chloroform at the time while Naruto gave him a makeover). She swore never to trust him again and that they were over.

Then he went to the hospital where they'd tried every chemical known to man to remove whatever was in his hair. It got even worse because none of the hospital staff could keep a straight face at his ridiculous appearance. They pulled several of his hairs out by the roots (that hurt like a motherfucker) and soon identified the glossy stuff on his head as _chakra enhanced_ _spar varnish_ which was rock hard once it set up and was used to waterproof the hull of a ship to keep it from corroding. Hours later the doctors gave up removing it and had to cut his hair with wire cutters and scrubbed his head raw to get the stuff off of his skin. Now the teacher's head was completely red from all the scrubbing and he was sporting a hot pink buzz cut (it was the best they could do without pulling _all_ his hair out by the roots) with a reverse Mohawk down the middle. The doctors also said he shouldn't wear a hat because the UV rays from the sun would help to break the varnish down.

The final indignity was he had an allergic reaction to the gallon of cheap perfume he'd been soaked in and now had a rash. They'd given him a shot but he still had to deal with infernal itching from hell….and he still smelled awful. _Who would have thought that his marking Naruto's tests down intentionally would lead to such suffering? He hadn't counted on Naruto, Hinata and Maya figuring it out_ ….

His entire class exploded into laughter when Mizuki arrived and he was further humiliated. Kiba nearly got sick from the smell of the perfume and Naruto gave him a 'thumbs up' on his new look. When Iruka lost it and burst into laughter Mizuki turned back around in a rage and left the way he'd entered. " ** _I don't need this shit!_** " he screamed to the heavens.

Once the class _finally_ got their laughter back under control (Iruka-sensei included) they decided to start the afternoon sparring sessions….

POSTSCRIPT:

Okay, I admit I hate Mizuki since he's a world class prick (nothing personal). I think there was another story that had Mizuki with a reverse Mohawk so I can't take all the credit there. If anyone knows the story please PM me so I can give proper credit to them. At any rate, Naruto and the girls caught him with his hands in the cookie jar and he was appropriately punished. Will he be tortured more? Only time will tell.

The entire Hyūga Clan has had a massive shakedown and Hiashi is treading on thin ice with the Hokage. What will this mean for Hinata and Hanabi?

Naruto has shown he's more competent and mature in ways (like controlling his temper and learning fuinjutsu) but he's still a kid and the Prankster King from Hell.

See you next chapter. Blue out. 5/14/15

EDITED 5/22/15


	3. Chapter 3

_**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**_

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE:_

Thanks everyone for their support. This story has actually received more positive reviews, favorites and follows than any other story I've had for just the first couple of chapters. This is another quick update because I've been writing during my vacation so the chapters won't be coming out as rapidly from now on (not to mention I really need to get another chapter of _Lunar Eclipse_ out). Without further ado, here's chapter 3:

Last time:

 _…_ _.he went to the hospital where they'd tried every chemical known to man to remove whatever was in his hair. It got even worse because none of the hospital staff could keep a straight face at his ridiculous appearance. They pulled several of his hairs out by the roots (that hurt like a motherfucker) and soon identified the glossy stuff on his head as_ _chakra enhanced spar varnish_ _which was rock hard once it set up and was used to waterproof the hull of a ship to keep it from corroding. Hours later the doctors gave up removing it and had to cut his hair with wire cutters and scrubbed his head raw to get the stuff off of his skin. Now the teacher's head was completely red from all the scrubbing and he was sporting a hot pink buzz cut (it was the best they could do without pulling all his hair out by the roots) with a reverse Mohawk down the middle. The doctors also said he shouldn't wear a hat because the UV rays from the sun would help to break the varnish down._

 _The final indignity was he had an allergic reaction to the gallon of cheap perfume he'd been soaked in and now had a rash. They'd given him a shot but he still had to deal with infernal itching from hell….and he still smelled awful._ _Who would have thought that his marking Naruto's tests down intentionally would lead to such suffering? He hadn't counted on Naruto, Hinata and Maya figuring it out…._

 _His entire class exploded into laughter when Mizuki arrived and he was further humiliated. Kiba nearly got sick from the smell of the perfume and Naruto gave him a 'thumbs up' on his new look. When Iruka lost it and burst into laughter Mizuki turned back around in a rage and left the way he'd entered. "_ _ **I don't need this shit!**_ _" he screamed to the heavens._

 _Once the class_ _finally_ _got their laughter back under control (Iruka-sensei included) they decided to start the afternoon sparring sessions…._

Chapter 3

 **Konoha Ninja Academy**

Natsume Maya grinned ferally as her name came up. She'd already challenged Ami and knew if the girl bully backed out she would lose all of her credentials and the respect of her little gang. Maya had watched over the years as Ami's group had picked on Haruno Sakura because of her forehead and attempted to pick on Maya herself because of her 'cockroach' bangs she inherited from her Grandmother. They'd picked on others too and Maya was going to thoroughly enjoy pummeling the purpled haired bully into the ground. She knew she was being a bit petty on her part but there was no way Natsume Maya was going to let them badmouth her friend Hinata-chan while she was injured in the hospital.

Iruka called their names and Maya's blue eyes glinted with malice. She smiled as she saw the fear in the eyes of Ami. ' _Oh yes, I'm going to enjoy putting this little Sasuke fan-slut in her place_.' To be honest Maya was admired in class so most people were rooting for her but Ami had her loyal followers.

"Kick her ass Ami-chan!" yelled Fuka.

"Show that upper class bitch who the real kunoichi is in this class Ami!" said another one of Ami's followers.

"Show that bully who's boss Maya-san!" said one of Maya's supporters.

"Ami's a coward deep down! You can beat her Maya-san!" yelled Yamanaka Ino.

Ami looked at Naruto for a second and he mouthed ' _Crush her Maya-chan_.' That was all Maya really needed.

Ami was frightened but put up a brave face. Maya decided to take a page from Naruto's book and said, "I hope you have good medical insurance 'cause you're going to be in the hospital a while."

The purple haired girl said "I-I'm not afraid of you cockroach girl. I'm going to mess up that pretty face of yours!" Ami sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than actually threaten Maya.

Sasuke simply nodded to himself sagely. It was a foregone conclusion that Maya would easily defeat her opponent. ' _After all, she_ _ **is**_ _a noble_." he thought smugly.

Maya assumed her family stance, the Natsume Goushin-Ryu while Ami assumed the Academy standard stance. Iruka was a bit surprised. ' _Maya usually uses the Academy style or a variation of it. I remember seeing her Father use the Natsume style and it was_ _ **absolutely lethal**_ _. I hope she doesn't go overboard_.' thought the Academy teacher as he said, "Begin!"

The next twenty seconds could only be summed up in one word: **_brutal_**. Maya struck like lightning and jabbed Ami in the solar plexus so hard the girl was airborne and had completely knocked the wind out of her. It would have been over after that but Maya kept Ami from flying out of the ring by grabbing the girl's shoulder and bringing her back down to earth roughly. After a fifteen hit combo Ami was coughing up blood and about to collapse like a puppet with its strings cut but Maya landed a brutal scissor kick on the other girl's chin that literally sent her flying out of the ring. When Ami landed in a lifeless heap she actually even _bounced_ once from the landing impact. Ami never got a single offensive move off and most of the students couldn't follow the fight do to the speed involved though both Naruto and Sasuke could.

Maya landed gracefully in her opening stance and then made the sign of reconciliation. "Thank you for the spar and don't ever talk badly about my friends again or I'll get serious." she said as she bowed to her fallen opponent.

Iruka got out of his stupor and went to check on Ami. "Get the school nurse immediately! Ami needs medical attention. This was a friendly spar Miss Natsume; not a death match! What do you have to say for yourself?"

Maya had a passive look on her face and said, "Her life isn't in danger. I suppose I got carried away in the heat of the moment." Everyone gave her wide berth as she went over and sat by Naruto. She flashed him a savage grin that she only showed when she and Naruto were going all out in one of their own spars on the Natsume grounds. "Was that a bit overkill Naruto-kun?" asked Maya.

Naruto shrugged and said, "Nah; she had it coming. Karma's a bitch you know. You'll probably get an earful from Iruka-sensei though."

"I've been through worse." replied the Natsume heiress with a shrug. The students watched quietly as Ami was hauled off on a stretcher.

Murmurs were going about as Iruka came back over to the class. He said to Maya, "We will be talking about this incident later Miss Natsume."

Maya nodded and said "Yes Iruka-sensei."

Sasuke was at the other end of the sparring field and frankly, he was _shocked_. He fully expected Maya to dominate the fight but it seemed the Natsume heiress hadn't even broken a sweat when she utterly _slaughtered_ that purple haired fan girl. ' _Natsume Maya, you are truly the kind of kunoichi I desire to be the new matriarch of the Uchiha Clan and to be the Mother to my children_.' Sasuke was going to go over and praise her fighting skills but saw the orange menace Naruto sitting with her talking. Sasuke decided that after he soundly defeated Naruto that he could spend some quality time with Maya. ' _Once she sees I'm the better choice Uzumaki will be nothing but a memory_.' he thought nodding to himself.

Several other spars took place without much incident but the minute Naruto and Sasuke's names were called Naruto hopped up and smiled viciously. Maya said to him, "Try not to kill the Uchiha."

"I'll do my best Maya-chan." answered Naruto. All the girls but Maya were cheering on 'Sasuke-kun' and the boys were divided. There were some that just hated the dead last but there were others like Kiba that wanted to see Sasuke get taken down a few pegs even if it was unlikely. Amidst all the cheering for Sasuke and the heckling of Naruto both fighters entered the sparring ring.

Iruka had a _very_ bad feeling about this. He saw the wild look in Naruto's eyes and knew that the blonde had every intention of laying Sasuke up in the hospital. Sasuke had a look of total superiority and confidence on his face as usual. Iruka could tell the Uchiha heir was expecting an easy win. "Take your stances." said Iruka. Sasuke immediately fell into the Uchiha Clan's famous Interceptor fist stance and Naruto just fell into a sloppy stance Iruka didn't recognize. "Alright, begin!" yelled Iruka as he leapt back.

Sasuke moved quickly and started pummeling Naruto with several hits to the chest and shoulders as Naruto threw a sloppy punch towards Sasuke and missed completely. Those rooting for Sasuke cheered until they saw the punch was a feint. Naruto lashed out with a savage kick that crushed Sasuke's kneecap and caused him to cry out in pain. As Sasuke fell forward Naruto lanced him in the eyes with two fingers. Sasuke reflexively lurched back and covered his pained eyes with his hands. He left himself wide open for a _wicked_ kick in the groin which caused him to buckle forward again. Sasuke was totally disoriented and in a world of pain now. Naruto then boxed Sasuke's ears and gripped his head in one motion before he pulled Sasuke down and used his knee to break Sasuke's nose. The cartilage made an awful crunch and blood went everywhere.

Sasuke fell back unconscious and bleeding badly with Naruto standing over him with the same wild look still in his eyes. Iruka yelled, "The spar is over Naruto! Step back!" He was afraid Naruto was going to start jumping up and down on his fallen opponent like a berserker. Naruto reluctantly took a couple of steps back. He was rather enjoying the view of Sasuke's pretty boy face fucked up six ways to Sunday. The bleeding was good and the bruising and swelling was a nice touch too. "Make the sign of reconciliation and bow Naruto." said Iruka as he once again called for medics.

Naruto bowed and said, "Thank you for the spar Sasuke-chan. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did." With that he went back over to sit by Maya and they gave each other equally bloodthirsty smiles. It took everything they had not to high five and burst into laughter.

Seeing the spars were over; (Sasuke and Naruto were the last ones) Iruka decided he'd had enough for the day and sent the students home an hour early except for Maya and Naruto of course.

 **Academy Classroom**

Once the three were back in the classroom the two kids were sat down in the front row with Iruka sitting in front of them in a chair. Initially Iruka was going to yell at them and give them detentions but he decided just to talk to them instead and then decide their punishment. "Alright, I expect this sort of thing from Naruto but what about you Maya? You've always been an exemplary student but what you did today was _totally_ _unacceptable_. Please explain your reasoning behind this behavior so I can understand."

Maya nodded. "It's simple Iruka-sensei, Ami and her cronies were saying terrible things about Hinata-chan because she's been absent the last three days. You saw what shape Hinata-chan was in. I warned her not to do that and her little group challenged me to a fight. I made an example of Ami so she and her little gang would never say such things again." Though Maya explained it calmly Iruka could see the anger and disgust etched in Maya's facial expressions. He couldn't condone the Natsume heiress's actions but having seen the extent of Hinata's injuries himself he could see the girl's anger was justified.

Iruka said, "Next time you have issues like this between you and your classmates I want you to come to me first Maya. Am I clear?"

"Yes Iruka-sensei." she answered. Iruka could tell she didn't regret what she did one bit but he also understood why.

"Alright Naruto, would you care to explain to me why you hurt Sasuke so badly?" asked Iruka.

Sasuke has been harassing Maya-chan every time I turn my back." said Naruto. "He claims that Maya-chan shouldn't be my friend because she's a noble and I'm trash. Sasuke seems to think Maya-chan should be with him instead of Hinata-chan and I. He and I got in an argument about it and he challenged me to a spar to prove he was right. He wanted a spar so I gave him one; end of story."

Iruka asked, "Are you _sure_ there's not more to it than that Naruto-kun?"

"You mean aside of the fact he's an arrogant emo prick that treats everyone else like they're lower than dirt?" asked Naruto rhetorically. "I can't think of _any_ other reason to give him a good spanking like the prima donna brat that he is."

Iruka sweat dropped. "You know it's going to go straight to the Hokage that you injured the Uchiha heir don't you?"

"I've been accused of worse Iruka-sensei." said Naruto. "Anyway, technically in both cases Academy students were _accidently_ injured on the Academy sparring grounds. It happens all the time. It was a spar and we did what we had to win; simple."

The scar faced teacher sighed. He knew how lonely Naruto was and the idea of losing a close friend like Maya or Hinata to someone else was unbearable. "It's stretching the rules a lot but you are both right. It _was_ a spar and neither of you used weapons, tools or jutsus so I can't scold you for that. You were both utterly brutal, ruthless and what you both did was absolute and total overkill but it _was_ within the rules. I'm letting you both off with a warning but if you do such things again there _will_ be consequences for your actions. As far as the world's concerned you both served a detention with me. It's been a long day and frankly I don't want to be here any longer than I have to, understand?"

"You're the best Iruka-sensei!" said Naruto as Maya happily nodded in agreement. "Do you want to come visit Hinata-chan with us tonight?"

"I'd like to but I got a call from a friend who's really upset." said Iruka. ' _I can't believe Mizuki cheated on a nice girl like Tsubaki_.' "I promised to go see her after work so I can't go. Please say hi to Hinata for me and give her my apologies. He pulled out his wallet. "Tell you what. Go to the Yamanaka Flower Shop and pick up a bouquet for her from all three of us. I'll give this to you Maya because Naruto might _accidentally_ buy ramen with it." he chuckled.

Naruto pouted but then perked up. "Say Iruka-sensei, I promised I'd show you a seal didn't I?"

Iruka perked up a bit himself in interest. "That you did Naruto. Does Maya know about your fuinjutsu?"

Maya smiled, "Oh, I _know_ all about it Iruka sensei but I don't _comprehend_ it. Naruto-kun is some kind of sealing genius."

"A sealing genius eh?" mused Iruka rubbing his chin. "Why don't you give me an example?"

Naruto got out a scroll and unsealed some sealing ink and brushes. "Let me think…." said Naruto. "I've got it. Let's get the chalkboard shiny clean Maya-chan!"

Maya nodded and the two scrubbed one of the three chalkboards spotless. Iruka was really puzzled now. The concept of Naruto cleaning a chalkboard without being forced into it at kunai point was a completely alien concept to the teacher. After it dried for five minutes Naruto said, "Now it's ready!" he quickly grabbed his ink and brush and rapidly painted and intricate seal on the chalkboard and once it dried he charged it with chakra and said "Seal." The intricate design vanished before Iruka's eyes and Naruto said, "Okay, let's graffiti this sucker!"

Naruto unsealed a can of orange spray paint and decorated the chalkboard with some choice profanity before Iruka had time to react. " ** _WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING NARUTO?_** " yelled Iruka as Maya burst into a fit of laughter.

She patted Iruka's hand and said, "It's okay Iruka-sensei, just watch."

The hyperventilating instructor forced himself to be calm. Naruto gave him a fox like smile and started to channel chakra into the board before he said "Kai!" and all the graffiti disappeared leaving the chalkboard spotless again. "See? My cleaning seal works perfectly."

Iruka was dumbfounded. "Show me how to use it Naruto." Naruto quickly showed Iruka where to channel in chakra and to say _kai_ once it was reset. Iruka quickly drew some squiggles in chalk on the chalkboard and then channeled chakra and said "Kai!" Then he repeated the process with permanent marker; then spray paint. Iruka was laughing wildly when he finished. "Naruto, where did you learn this _magical_ seal?" Iruka asked with a look of depravity in his eyes.

"You're really creeping me out Iruka-sensei." said Naruto at the desperate man's face. "It's not magic; it's fuinjutsu."

"But _where_ did you learn it?" asked the crazed teacher.

Naruto simply stated, "I didn't _learn_ it Iruka-sensei, I _invented_ it." as he sealed up his sealing supplies.

"You _invented_ it?" asked the now delirious Iruka.

"Well, yeah." said Naruto. "I was scrubbing my bathroom floor and when I got done I thought ' _There must be an easier way_ ' so I invented a seal to do it for me. You can do _anything_ with seals; it just takes some imagination and creativity.

"All the hardwood floors in my house have them Iruka-sensei." said Maya. "It's a real lifesaver!"

Iruka said with wide eyes, "People would _kill_ to have these seals to clean with Naruto. This is….pure genius! Can anyone duplicate it?"

I've got it triple encoded so even the Hokage couldn't duplicate it." said Naruto nonchalantly. "Someone might be able to make a counter seal and remove it but duplicate it? No way."

"We have to see the Hokage and get it patented Naruto. You could become filthy rich with this seal!" said Iruka enthusiastically.

"What about all the others I've created for around the house?" asked Naruto.

The scar faced teacher asked, "You have more you've invented? How many are there?"

"About seventy, give or take." said the blonde. "But those are just the ones I've proven. I've probably got just as many in the test stage."

" _My god_." whispered Iruka. "This is an S-class secret! We have to see the Hokage right now!" Iruka picked up Naruto over his shoulder like luggage and took off for the Hokage Tower with Maya hot on his heels yelling for him to wait up.

Naruto was screaming "Put me down!" and "Child abduction!" the whole way as he was being tossed about like a sack of potatoes.

When they made it to the Hokage tower and found out the Hokage was out Iruka's adrenaline rush came to an end and he sat down in a chair breathing heavily. Naruto patted Iruka on the shoulder. "There; there Iruka-sensei. I can get us in to see Hokage-Jiji tomorrow. Maya-chan and I need to go see Hinata-chan and buy flowers and you need to see your upset friend remember?"

"Alright Naruto but remember this is an S-class secret." whispered the tired Iruka.

"Okay; S-class, Got it." said Naruto as he and Maya quickly departed. Once they were outside Naruto said, "Let's go back to the Academy for Aya-chan and then we'll buy some flowers and head to the hospital."

"Right!" said Maya smiling. "See, I told you you're a fuinjutsu genius. You just need to listen to me more Naruto-kun; you know I'm always right." Naruto just rolled his eyes and trailed along behind her….

 **Hyuga Compound**

Hiashi was desperate. There were now forty eight members of the Hyūga Clan under arrest and the autopsy proved his beloved Himawari was murdered. Most of the Hyūga medical staff was locked up and the whole compound was in turmoil. Hiashi decided to reach out to the one person he felt he could trust in this dire situation –his estranged Mother Hyūga Hanako. She'd divorced his (currently jailed) Father and she hadn't spoken to Hiashi since his twin brother Hizashi died. As far as Hiashi knew the only family members she spoke to were Hinata and Neji. She was close to them and Hiashi hoped she would help him.

Knocking on her door Hiashi waited for a moment and then heard her say, "You may enter Hiashi-sama."

Hiashi cringed at her cold tone. He longed to hear her call him Hiashi-kun in her warm motherly voice again. He entered and saw his mother was fit and slim as always and still very beautiful. You'd never guess she was in her sixties. The Hyuga Clan head just stood there a few moments before his Mother said. "Did you have a reason to come here or did you just come to stare at me after all these years? If it's the latter; please leave."

Hiashi schooled his thoughts and said, "Kaa-san, I desperately need your guidance. Please talk to me."

Hanako turned around with her byakugan active and stared impassively. "You will address me as Hanako-san; I am no longer your Mother Hiashi-sama. If you need advice, why don't you go see your beloved Father you adore so much? He should be easy to find; he's in jail after all."

Tears started rolling down Hiashi's face and he said, "Please talk to me Kaa-san. My family is in peril and you are the only one I can trust with this information."

Hanako was shock to see her son openly weeping but remained impassive. She poured herself some tea but didn't offer any to Hiashi. "I don't know what's going on but I will listen. Tell me what the issue is."

"Himawari-chan was **_murdered_** Kaa-san; they tried to murder Hinata-chan as well." said Hiashi with a sob. "My heart is shattered and my little girls are in protective custody even from me. The Hokage is threatening to declare me an unfit parent and take them away from me. I can't bear the thought of losing them. Please help me Kaa-san. I'm begging you!"

"Hinata-chan thinks you hate her anyway for being too weak." said Hanako coldly. "What difference does it make if they take her away from you? It would probably do the child wonders."

"Why would she think that? She is my precious daughter and I love her." said Hiashi.

Hanako asked sarcastically, "Do you want a list Hiashi?"

"Kaa-san the elders have been torturing her! My baby girl!" cried out Hiashi. "Hinata-chan stayed quiet because they threatened Hanabi-chan's life. The elder council and the medical staff have been horribly abusing my little girl and I didn't even know it! The Hokage's personal Doctor said he'd seen prisoners of war that weren't as injured as Hinata-chan. My poor angel has been suffering horribly and I don't know what to do."

Hanako was shocked. Hinata-chan hadn't seen her recently but given it was her final year at the Academy she figured her granddaughter was simply too busy. Closing her eyes for a moment she said. "Start from the beginning Hiashi and leave nothing out. I want the full truth from you."

Hiashi spoke to his Mother for hours telling her about Himawari's death and the horrid things that Hinata had to endure. He basically laid his soul out to bare. Hanako listened quietly and asked questions when appropriate. Finally Hanako said. "The answer is obvious Hiashi. Both Himawari and Hinata-chan hated the caged bird seal with a passion and wanted to abolish it. They were a serious threat to the status quo and the elders wanted to eliminate them. The medical staff probably was coerced into helping."

"Why didn't Hinata-chan come to me though? asked Hiashi. "I'm her _Father_ for god's sake!"

Hanako shook her head. "It's probably because she thinks you hate her and would punish her even more. Given your cold attitude towards her it's no big mystery. She might have thought you authorized the torture sessions yourself."

"But I would never-" started Hiashi.

"Given the way you've treated her like a hated stepchild for years do you really thing Hinata-chan would believe your words Hiashi?" asked Hanako. "You've done an awful job of raising my granddaughters and the clan has only made it worse. I wish I could fix this for Hinata-chan's sake but it may be too late."

"But I love my daughters dearly…." said Hiashi with a broken look on his face.

"It's in the Hokage's hands now." said Hanako. "All you can do is testify that you'll change your ways when you plead your case to him."

Hiashi just nodded sadly….losing his brother and then his wife nearly broke him. If he lost his daughters too he didn't know if he would be able to keep living….

 **Yamanaka Flower Shop**

Maya and Naruto were looking for flowers after they dropped Aya off at home. Normally Naruto wouldn't have been seen dead in such a place but he was determined to make Hinata-chan happy and he knew she loved flower pressing. Ino was talking to Maya at the counter. "So Hinata has been in the hospital all this time? Why didn't you tell everyone?" asked Ino.

"We were _ordered_ not to at the time." explained Maya seriously. "We are _still_ under orders not to tell _why_ she is in the Hospital. You don't need to be spreading it around either unless you want to end up like Ami."

Ino blanched as she remembered Ami being hauled off on a stretcher earlier that day looking more dead than alive. "I-I won't tell a soul!" she quickly blurted out.

"Good." said Maya with a smile. "I'd hate to have to mess you up Ino. You're a generally nice person even if you have awful taste in men."

"Sasuke-kun is not awful! He is handsome, smart and dreamy." defended Ino.

"He also treats you like pond scum." chimed in Naruto. "You and his other fan girls must be gluttons for punishment with the way he treats all of you."

"Who are you to talk Naruto?" asked Ino. "You're a midget and a troublemaker and you hurt Sasuke-kun badly earlier today. I won't forgive you!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Not that I'm asking for your forgiveness but you might recall _he_ challenged _me_ to a spar. Training accidents happen all the time; he'll live."

"Well I'm going to visit Sasuke-kun after work and console him. You should come with me Maya." said the Yamanaka heiress.

"No thanks." said Maya. "The Uchiha might get the impression I actually _give a damn_. Besides, I hate to break it to you Ino but the only person Sasuke will _ever_ have sex with is his ego."

"That's just cruel Maya. He just needs the right girl to sooth his soul." said Ino as she rang up the bouquet.

"Believe what you want Ino." said the Natsume heiress. "Thanks for the flowers."

Ino nodded, "No problem. Please tell Hinata I hope she's okay."

"We'll do that." said Naruto. "Later Ino."

As the pair exited the shop Ino thought to herself, ' _What is it Maya and Hinata see in Naruto? Is there more to him than being the trouble-making dead last? Sasuke-kun is so much better. Oh well, less competition for Sasuke-kun's heart!_ '

 **Konoha Hospital, Secured Ward**

As ANBU Cat led the two kids in Naruto noticed the security seals had an extra failsafe on them and chuckled. He could easily bypass that too. "You know; if you kids had just shown a little patience and restraint I would have been able to bring you in without all the drama of your attempted break ins." said Cat.

Naruto grinned mischievously. "It's okay Cat nee chan; we didn't want you ANBU to be bored so Maya-chan and I thought visiting late at night would liven things up a bit." Cat just sweat dropped.

Knocking on Hinata's door Cat said, "May we enter Hinata-san?"

Hinata's voice echoed from within. "Yes, feel free to enter."

The door opened and Hinata saw her friends and said joyfully, "Naruto-kun; Maya-chan! I'm so happy to see you!"

Naruto brought in the bouquet. "Here Hinata-chan; these are from Maya-chan, Iruka-sensei and I. I'm so glad to see you're doing better. We've been worried sick about you."

Hinata smiled and smelled the flowers before she the bouquet down. "It's been rough but I'm all healed now thanks to Doctor Akira and his staff."

Maya gently hugged her friend. "We've missed you so much Hinata-chan; seeing you smiling like this puts my heart at ease." That's when Maya saw Hanabi's head poked up over the edge of the bed just enough that her byakagan eyes were showing. "Well, who might this little one be?" asked Maya with a smile.

Hinata looked and saw her little sister was being shy. "Come out here Hanabi and make your introductions. This is Uzumaki Naruto-kun and Natsume Maya-chan. They are my dearest friends and they made sure I got to the hospital safely when I was hurt."

Hanabi stepped out and bowed formally. "I'm Hyūga Hanabi. It is nice to meet you both. Thank you for helping my nee-chan. I was very worried for her." She looked at Hinata who smiled and nodded approvingly at her introduction.

"So you're Hinata-chan's little sister I heard so much about." sad Maya happily. "I'm glad to meet you at last. You're even cuter than I imagined."

Naruto smiled. "I can see you're going to be pretty like your nee-chan, Hanabi-chan. How old are you?"

"I'm nine." said Hanabi still a little shy. "You're the two I've seen in pictures in nee-chan's room."

Hinata gathered her sister up and pulled Hanabi onto the bed with her. "Please pull up a chair and sit so we can talk." said Hinata hugging Hanabi lightly. They mainly talked about school until Hanabi dozed off in her sister's warmth. After that the conversation got much more serious.

….

Naruto was totally enraged but kept his voice low so they wouldn't wake up Hanabi. "They tortured you and then tried to poison you to death? I'll kill them all myself!"

Hinata shook her head. "That's not the answer Naruto-kun. The Hokage and his ANBU are scouring the Hyūga compound from top to bottom. Right now Hanabi-chan and I are in protective custody because of the situation at the compound. Over half of the main branch members are already behind bars. The Hokage and Doctor Akira don't feel it's safe for Hanabi-chan and I to go home."

Maya said, "You and Hanabi-chan should come live with Aya and I. You obviously won't be safe with the Hyūga clan and there is plenty of room at my place."

Hinata lowered her head sadly. "Things are very up in the air at the moment. If we are taken away from my Father's custody I may have to consider your offer. I don't know how it will all work out legally though so we will have to wait a while longer."

"Do you want to go back to your Father Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto.

"Hanabi-chan does but I….after what I went through I am numb." Hinata had a pained look on her face. "As ashamed as I am to say it a large part of me wants to damn the entire Hyūga clan and leave. I know it's cowardly-"

"It's _not_ cowardly Hinata-chan." declared Maya with absolute conviction. "If you are willing to leave home to protect your baby sister then you are being _brave_ Hinata-chan; _not_ cowardly."

"Maya-chan is right." said Naruto. "Do you have any family that you can say truly loves you like they should?"

Hinata shed a tear and shook her head 'no.' "Except for Hanako Obaa-chan I can't think of anybody. The Hyūga Compound is a place I live; it's not a home."

"It sounds more like a _prison_ to me Hinata-chan." said Maya with a frown. "Whatever the Hokage decides and whatever you decide to do; remember that Naruto-kun and I will always stick by you."

Hinata nodded sadly as she received a gently hug from both Maya and Naruto. She knew they would support her but why did everything have to be so hard?

A nurse knocked before she came in with Hinata and Hanabi's dinner. "It's already past seven kids." she said to Maya and Naruto. "You need to get home. You can come back and visit Hinata-san tomorrow after class let's out."

Naruto was going to argue but Maya grabbed his arm and said, "Alright Hinata-chan. We'll see you and Hanabi-chan tomorrow. Be good and I hope things are resolved soon. Tell Hanabi-chan we said bye. Naruto-kun…?"

The orange wearing boy sighed. "I wish we could stay later but….anyway, we'll see you tomorrow okay? –And don't worry, Hokage-jiji will make this right even if I have to _force_ him too!"

Hinata smiled and bid her friends goodbye. She woke up Hanabi and they had dinner together before they lay down for the night. Hanabi hugged her sister tightly. Hinata could tell she was crying. "What's wrong Hanabi-chan?" asked Hinata concerned.

"Did the elders really torture you and poison you that way Hinata nee-chan?" asked the teary eyed younger sister.

Hinata gasped. "Hanabi, you….you heard all of that?" Hanabi nodded sadly. "I didn't want you to have to hear those ugly things Hanabi-chan." said Hinata forlornly.

Hanabi shook her head back and forth repeatedly. "You….you nearly gave your life to protect me nee-chan. Our clan is _bad_ and Daddy did nothing to stop them! Why are you _protecting_ them nee-chan?! I never want to see them _ever_ again after what they did to you."

"But the bad ones are in jail Hanabi-chan." said Hinata.

"Daddy and all the others let it happen though! They're bad too! I love you nee-chan." said Hanabi as she hugged Hinata tightly and cried.

Hinata gently rocked her sister back and forth as she did her best to sooth Hanabi the way she remembered her Mother did with her….

 **The Natsume Clan Home**

Maya dragged Naruto back to her house for dinner. She knew he had to calm down before he launched a full scale prank assault on the Hyūga Compound. "Naruto-kun, calm down and eat. Let the Hokage do his job legally before you do something _illegally_."

Naruto pouted. "I'm just so frustrated Maya-chan. I want to break something….It's a shame Sasuke isn't around to mop the floor with again…."

Maya grinned and Aya burst into a fit of giggles. "Rumor has it you beat up the Uchiha so bad that he's going to need surgery to fix his face." said the younger sister. "A lot of his fan girls are really upset."

Chuckling, Naruto said, "Well, I did send him to the hospital but it wasn't that bad except for busting his kneecap. Bastard deserved it for being such a prick to Maya-chan…."

Aya raised an eyebrow. "The Uchiha's been bothering you nee-chan? Maybe he thinks you're pretty."

Maya shook her head. "No, Uchiha Sasuke is all about himself and his ego. He's been acting all high and mighty because ' _He and I are both from noble houses_ ' and has been insulting Naruto-kun. I was getting sick of it and Naruto-kun fed the Uchiha a knuckle sandwich like the proper gentleman he is."

"Nee-chan, you shouldn't confuse Naruto-kun with a _proper gentleman_. He might take serious offense." said Aya trying to keep a straight face and failing utterly.

" _Aya-chaaan_ …." whined out Naruto as both sisters broke out into laughter. At least Naruto had calmed down….

POSTSCRIPT:

Okay, the fight with Sasuke wasn't spectacular but it did get my point across. Naruto fights mean and _dirty_. He's small and durable but he doesn't have a true style yet so he's using what he learned on the streets and from Anko (hard to tell which is a worse influence). I also wanted to show that Maya is a prodigy in her own right. It's another reason why Sasuke is attracted to her as he views her as _worthy_ of his attention.

I plan to bring more interaction between the other classmates and Naruto (we saw a bit of Kiba and Ino in this chapter). I also intend to have some interactions with Sakura but because she isn't Naruto's sole focus of affection (more of an acquaintance really) I'm not sure how they are going to interact just yet.

The Hyuga clan is on the rocks still and it seems that neither Hinata nor Hanabi are too enthused about going back. How will this change the story dynamics? We shall see….Blue out. 5/16/15

EDITED 5/22/15


	4. Chapter 4

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This chapter we're going to introduce a couple of more characters from the Tenjho Tenge series and we're going to learn more about Hinata's Grandmother Hanako. **Long** postscript at the end.

Last time:

 _….Aya burst into a fit of giggles. "Rumor has it you beat up the Uchiha so bad that he's going to need surgery to fix his face." said the younger sister. "A lot of his fan girls are really upset."_

 _Chuckling, Naruto said, "Well, I did send him to the hospital but it wasn't that bad except for busting his kneecap. Bastard deserved it for being such a prick to Maya-chan…."_

 _Aya raised an eyebrow. "The Uchiha's been bothering you nee-chan? Maybe he thinks you're pretty."_

 _Maya shook her head. "No, Uchiha Sasuke is all about himself and his ego. He's been acting all high and mighty because 'He and I are both from noble houses' and has been insulting Naruto-kun. I was getting sick of it and Naruto-kun fed the Uchiha a knuckle sandwich like the proper gentleman he is."_

 _"Nee-chan, you shouldn't confuse Naruto-kun with a proper gentleman. He might take serious offense." said Aya trying to keep a straight face and failing utterly._

 _" Aya-chaaan…." whined out Naruto as both sisters broke out into laughter. At least Naruto had calmed down…. _

**Chapter 4**

 **Konoha Ninja Academy, Morning**

Iruka stood before his class to introduce a new classmate. "This is Isuzu Emi who some of you might already know." said Iruka as he motioned to the beautiful red haired girl beside him. She had blue-green eyes and her hair was done up in exotic ringlets. "Since Iwata sensei's class was broken up due to its small size she will be joining our class for the last six months. Emi, please tell us a little about yourself."

Emi nodded and bowed to everyone. "I'm Isuzu Emi and I originally come from the Fire Capital. My family is all merchants but my paternal grandmother was a kunoichi so I have some shinobi blood in me. I'm honored that I will be in the same class as the great Sasuke-sama and I hope to become friends with you all."

Iruka said to his students, "I want you all to make her all feel welcome. Does anyone have any questions for Emi before she sits down and we begin class?"

Sakura raised her hand and asked, "Isuzu-san; are you in anyway related to the Isuzu family that deals in rare imports and jewels at the Fire Capital?"

Emi nodded and said, "Yes, my Grandfather is the head of Isuzu family. Most of the jewelry in Fire Country comes through my family's business."

Ino's eyes nearly bugged out. "Not to be rude Isuzu-san but isn't your family incredibly wealthy? Why would you decide to become a kunoichi when you could live in luxury?"

"My reasons are personal but let's just say the lifestyle of my family doesn't suit me." explained Emi.

Several other questions were asked like, "Where do you get your hair done?" and "Do you have a lot a jewelry?" and other irrelevant things in the grand scheme of things.

Maya was quietly observing the new girl and noticed she moved like a well trained kunoichi. Then Maya remembered where she'd seen to red head before; down at the weapons practice field after class let out. Emi was good at throwing kunai; _really good_. She was fast and accurate as well as agile. Maya had seen Emi do some impressive acrobatics while throwing and she always hit the target. ' _It will be interesting competing with her in class, I won't underestimate her_.'

"Do you have a boyfriend?" asked Kiba admiring her curves. Several other boys were interested as well.

"No, I admire strength in a man above all else." said Emi seriously. "That's why I'm happy to be in the same class with Sasuke-sama….Ummm, where is Sasuke-sama?" she asked puzzled.

Iruka sighed. "Sasuke is currently laid up in the hospital due to injuries he sustained in a spar. He should return next week."

" ** _Sasuke _lost bad__**." supplied Kiba with a smirk on his face. All of Sasuke's fan girls glared at him but the dog ninja seemed to be enjoying dragging Sasuke's sterling reputation through the mud too much to notice them.

"He lost badly?" asked Emi. "I thought he was supposed to be the best and the strongest at everything."

"Naruto-baka didn't fight fair. He cheated!" screeched one a Sasuke's fan girls. The others threw in their insults quickly.

"That's enough!" said Iruka sternly. "Uzumaki Naruto beat him fair and square. I'll admit his methods were a bit unrefined but he completely dominated Sasuke and took very little damage in return."

Emi's eyes glittered with interest. "So this Uzumaki Naruto crushed Uchiha Sasuke?" she asked Iruka and he nodded before she turned back to the class. "I'd like to meet him. Which one of you is Naruto?"

Maya's eyes narrowed at Emi's obvious interest and the fan girls all were screeching that Naruto was a talentless, dead last loser but Emi didn't seem deterred at all. Finally Iruka yelled "Shut up and sit down! You're not giving a professional image to your new classmate at all." He turned to Emi, "Naruto is meeting with the Hokage right now so he won't be in until later. Please sit in any open seat and I'll begin this morning's classes."

Emi went up the stairs and sat at the back and thought to herself, ' _Uzumaki Naruto utterly defeated Uchiha Sasuke in a spar that left Sasuke in the hospital. Now he's having a meeting with the Hokage. All I've ever heard is he's the village prankster. I don't think I've ever seen him in person. I wonder what he looks like. This is_ ** _very_** _interesting_ ….'

Maya decided she'd keep a close eye on this new girl….

 **Hokage's Office**

Sarutobi Hiruzen was sweating, _really sweating_. The God of Shinobi was wondering what his implacable foe was going to do. A shorter than average fourteen year old boy wearing orange was sitting on the opposite side of his desk and their eyes were locked.

 _Flashback…._

 _Naruto came in with his usual jovial attitude and closed the door behind him. Hiruzen had been expecting him since Iruka apparently was wanting to bring Naruto in to see him yesterday evening. "Good morning Naruto-kun. You must have something important on your mind to have come this early."_

 _Naruto nodded eagerly as he took a seat. "Say Hokage Jiji; I found the funniest thing this morning when I looked in the mirror and channeled some chakra after my morning shower. It just so happens I have an eight trigrams seal and a reaper death seal nicely painted on my stomach. Both are designed to contain something_ ** _incredibly powerful_** _and I reckon whoever pulled it off gave their_ ** _soul_** _for it. I don't supposed you'd happen to know why it's there or who might have put it there would you 'ttebayo? I mean,_ ** _what_** _could possibly require such a seal…? But then again,_ ** _look at my god damned birthday! I want the truth and I want it now Jiji!_** _"_

 _Flashback end…._

Naruto's eyes were like cold blue steel. Hiruzen saw and image of Minato superimposed over Naruto. He knew Naruto wasn't going to let this go and short of locking Naruto up in jail (which might not work either) that Naruto would rain hell down upon Konoha if Hiruzen didn't spill his guts _right now_ ….he just hoped he didn't wake up looking like an elderly male geisha in the morning.

Naruto asked, "While we're at it rumor has it I'm a _**PRINCE**_ Jiji! You wouldn't know anything about that either would you?"

Hiruzen jumped up out of his chair and said, " _Who told you?!_ " with shock etched all over his face.

"So it wasn't just a rumor…." said Naruto in a dark tone.

Sarutobi Hiruzen realized he just fucked up royally (no pun intended) and he quietly said, "ANBU, leave. I will be having a private conversation with Uzumaki Naruto over the next few hours. We are not to be disturbed by anyone or anything short of the village coming under attack."

Naruto saw the Anbu leave in a body flicker and Hiruzen activated the silencing seals. The Hokage paced for a moment and then said, "Gods Naruto; where do I start? It was left in your parent's will that your royal lineage be kept quiet until you were a chunin or sixteen, whichever came first."

"….and the fact I'm the jinchūriki of the Kyubi no Kitsune _and_ that the Fourth Hokage, _my hero_ , did it to me? When were you going to tell me _that_ Sarutobi Jiji?!" asked Naruto angrily.

"Did someone tell you that?" asked the elderly Sarutobi.

"No, someone called me a **demon** and they were hauled off for _Breaking the Third's Law_ which I'd _love_ to hear all about by the way." Naruto said sarcastically. "When I found that seal on my body, the whisker marks and the fact I was born the night the Kyubi was defeated….it wasn't too hard to piece things together."

Hiruzen sighed. "Is that what Iruka brought you here for yesterday?"

"No, Iruka sensei found out how I could invent seals and wanted me to get them patented through you so no one else could steal them." said Naruto tiredly. " _ **Damn it Jiji!**_ Out of _all_ the people in the village you were the first person I felt I could trust with _everything!_ _I trusted you the most!_ Now I find out you've been lying to me as long as I can remember! You always, _always_ told me you didn't know why people hated me and you did! _**Damn you old man!**_ " Naruto broke down into angry tears. "I….I loved you like a Grandfather and you betrayed me!"

Hiruzen listened to Naruto sob and it felt like someone stabbed a rusty kunai into his heart. After a few minutes he said sadly, "Naruto-kun. I'll tell you everything from the beginning. A lot of it is going to hurt you but you deserve to know the full truth. I've made some huge mistakes and I don't know if you'll forgive me for it but I swear to you I'll tell you the absolute truth now…."

Naruto sniffed and looked up through teary eyes. "I'm giving you _one chance_ Jiji. _**One chance**_ to make it up to me! I don't know if I can forgive you but I'll listen..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen was feeling the weight of all his years right now. He feared Naruto would hate him and frankly; he felt the boy would be justified. He'd wanted Naruto to have a happy, normal childhood but that plan was shot to hell the very day that Naruto was born...

 **Ninja Academy Grounds**

A recently promoted jonin was sitting back on a bench watching the kids on the playground for the third day straight. It was all such a bother. His name was Tawara Bunshichi (age Twenty-four) and he _really_ didn't like putting out an effort. He'd far rather be admiring the bathing beauties over in the hot springs district; or better yet _banging_ one of them. He'd missed Konoha and all the beautiful women here. So what was he stuck doing? Observing Academy students for the Hokage while he smoked cigarettes. He had rather odd white and black hair and was perpetually unshaven with a slim, athletic build.

Bunshichi had been on a deep cover mission for Jiraiya in Kiri the last eight years and now he was back. He recognized his old classmate Iruka from the scar across his face and wondered how the class clown ended up being a _teacher_ of all things. He also recognized Mizuki despite the hot pink buzz cut with the stripe cut out of the middle. He'd have never guessed Mizuki was closeted but hey; who was he to judge? He felt kind of weird seeing his old acquaintances as adults. He also caught a really good look at Mitarashi Anko and saw that she'd developed into an incredibly sexy kunoichi. He'd always respected her fighting skills and abilities but _damn_ she was hot!

' _What the hell am I doing here? Oh yeah, looking for promising students_.' he thought absent mindedly as he watched Natsume Maya practicing her katas of the Natsume style. ' _I'd recognize her anywhere. She's going to be a real looker when she's older (already is actually). Her katas are perfect. Damn it Shin!_ ' When Bunshichi got back in Konoha the first thing he wanted to do was look up his best friend Natsume Shin….only to find out Shin went mad and slaughtered his own parents a year after Bunshichi left. Shin was now an S-class missing nin with a kill on sight order. With his ryugan Shin would be an incredibly dangerous foe. Bunshichi didn't know what made his friend snap but he was sure it had something to do with that damnable eye. ' _Seeing both the past and future and talking to the dead? It's no wonder he was always so unstable_ ….'

Bunshichi thought about his assignment and looked over his list that was Iruka and Mizuki's class he'd been observing for three days. ' _Well, the clan heirs seem competent. They all need a reality check but they_ ** _are_** _Academy students. The only non clan students that seem to have potential are Haruno Sakura, Isuzu Emi and Uzumaki Naruto so far_ ….' He'd watched the spars and liked Shikamaru's style of doing as little as possible. He could relate. Seeing young Maya destroy that civilian girl yesterday was obviously some sort of grudge match. His observations of Maya showed she wouldn't waste her time that way otherwise –unless she was just making an example of the girl. ' _And then there was the fight between the town pariah and the village prince_ ….' The Uchiha never stood a chance in hell. Bunshichi watched Naruto fight with every intention of laying his opponent to waste through mean, underhanded and dirty fighting….' _just the way it should be_.'

Bunshichi liked the blonde midget. He was tough as nails and didn't give two shits about anyone's opinion as far as Bunshichi could tell. He was also friends with Maya which was a plus. It was when he heard Naruto utter ' _ttebayo_ when Bushichi nearly lost his composure though. ' _Is he really Kushina-sama's son? She always said 'ttebane_.' When Bunshichi was young Uzumaki Kushina had saved his ass –twice. The Red Hot Habanero had saved him as an Academy student when he got in over his head in a fight. His three opponents were wailing on him when a chakra chain came out of nowhere and flattened them like pancakes. The beautiful redhead then took him to the hospital to get him patched up.

A few years later Bunshichi's genin team lost their jonin sensei to a band of missing nins. His teammates were crying in fear and Bunshichi had resolved himself to go down fighting. He knew it was over but then he saw the flash of Kushina's red hair and she viciously killed the missing nins with her chakra chains and her bare hands. The young Bunshichi was absolutely shocked at the sheer ruthlessness she displayed. She fought dirty with eye gouges and every underhanded move he'd ever imagined. He'd never seen anything like it. When she told him ' _You have to do_ ** _anything_** _to win when you are protecting others._ ' he fell in love with her and adopted her philosophy. When she died he was heartbroken but Bunshichi never dreamed she left behind a son….

' _If he is Kushina-sama's son then he's already acting like her and I owe it to her to help him out a bit….maybe I can teach him a couple of moves_.' thought Bunshichi as he watched a few of the civilian kids failing. ' _I'll have to ask Hokage-sama about it._ '

 **Hokage's Office**

"Before we begin Naruto I want you to know one absolute truth above all else; your parents loved you unconditionally and gave their lives to protect you from the Kyubi. You'll probably hate your Father but you must understand the situation was desperate. Please don't judge him until you know all the facts, alright?"

"I'll try Jiji." said Naruto bracing for the worst.

"Let's start with you Mother. Her name was Uzumaki Kushina and she was a beautiful woman that was the last living member the Royal Family of the Land of Whirlpools. She was a Princess and therefore you are a Prince Naruto-kun." Hiruzen reached up and pulled out a folder with Kushina's picture in it. "You've inherited your personality and pranking from her."

Naruto started at the picture of his red haired Mother and his eyes moistened. "My Kaa-san was so beautiful. She really looks like a princess."

The Hokage said wistfully, "Kushina was also a powerful kunoichi and a seal master. She liked pranks and ramen too. She could have been our first female Kage."

"She was that strong?" asked Naruto. "My Kaa-san sounds awesome!" sounding a bit more enthused.

Hiruzen smiled and nodded. "She _was_ awesome Naruto. She was known as the Red Hot Habanero because of her temper. You should be proud to be her son. She was so happy to have you...but she had a secret. She was the jinchūriki to the Kyubi before you."

" _What?_ " Naruto gasped with horror etched on his face.

"It was an S-class secret and nobody but a few trusted people knew...just like I meant for it to be with you Naruto-kun." said Hiruzen darkly. "The fact Kyubi is sealed within you was meant to be kept an S-class secret and whoever revealed it to the public should be damned to hell for what you've went through. The _'Third's Law'_ you've heard about was a law I made that made the subject forbidden to speak of but it wasn't enough to keep people from hating you..."

"What happened to my Kaa-san then?" asked Naruto.

"Let me tell you about your Father first so you can understand the situation." said Hiruzen. "Your Father was one of the greatest ninjas to have graced this world. His name was Namikaze Minato and was also known as the Fourth Hokage."

Naruto sat in silence and stared into space. His hero... _the man who damned his existence_...was his Father. Naruto wanted to scream but asked, "Please tell me why he did what he did to me Jiji." barely keeping his emotions in check as fresh tears rolled down his face.

Hiruzen explained, "A female jinchūriki's seal weakens during childbirth. When you Mother gave birth to you a missing nin attacked and freed Kyubi from the seal. He killed the ANBU guards and my beloved wife Biwako who was acting as a midwife. Your Father fought him and grievously wounded him. The Kyubi's corrosive chakra apparently finished him off.

" ** _Who was he?_** " asked Naruto coldly with fury in his eyes.

"He was a ninja of ours we thought died bravely during the Third Shinobi War." said the elderly Sarutobi. "We have no idea why he attacked and did what he did but the point is he's _dead_ and won't cause harm to anyone ever again. Please forget about him or taking revenge. That's not what your parents would have wanted." he added sternly.

"So what happened to my parents?" asked Naruto dreading the answer.

"Your Mother was already dying because the Kyubi was ripped from her. Your Father was out battling the Kyubi alone with the help of his Toad summons. The details are scant but eventually your parents trapped the Kyubi and the only one that could contain it was you -a young Uzumaki. Its chakra would kill a normal person within hours. The Kyubi realized what they were doing and tried to spear you with its claws. Your Mother and Father protected you with their bodies and were run through. Then the Shinigami came and took your Father's soul for payment for sealing the Kyubi."

Naruto was openly crying by now. "Jiji..."

Hiruzen sighed sadly. "Naruto-kun, that day was living hell. You lost your parents, I lost my wife and hundreds of villagers were killed. When I arrived there the only thing left intact in the area was the ceremonial altar with you crying on it. Your Father's last words were that he wanted you to be seen as a hero for holding the Kyubi. I took you away into hiding until I brought order to the village. It was a horrible catastrophe and I had to take up the role of Hokage again."

Naruto sat several minutes to regain control of his roaring emotions. "So how did the secret get out and why wasn't I told?"

"Naruto; the fact you are a Prince and the son of a Hokage would have painted a huge target on your back." said the old man. "Your Parents set up a trust fund for you so you could grow up as a normal child and receive the money and your title when you turned sixteen or a chunin assuming you became a ninja. They didn't want you to grow up a spoiled or arrogant child and I'm proud to say you haven't. That is the reason I kept your parentage and title from you. When you were younger you couldn't have kept it a secret and the enemies of your Father and Mother surely would have tried to assassinate you for your parent's exploits during the Third Shinobi War or to get your money since you have _a lot_ of it. Now that you are older you understand that revealing such things is dangerous. I want you to keep this information to yourself for now."

Naruto looked at him with steam rising again. "So I'm a god damned _Prince_ and you want me to continue living in poverty with people using me as a doormat?" Anger flashed in Naruto's blue eyes. " _Is that what you want Jiji?!_ "

Hiruzen spoke in a placating tone. "No Naruto-kun, I just want you to keep a low profile a little longer. It's for your safety. _Please_ understand you aren't strong enough to protect yourself yet!"

Naruto was steamed but got his anger under control. "Alright; we will work something out….explain to me why I was never told there was a damned **_demon_** sealed in my gut! At least I would have understood all the hatred then."

"You were a _small child_ Naruto!" yelled Hiruzen. "That information would have crushed you inside or made you believe that **you** were actually a demon just like the damned villagers! They can't tell you are a good boy and not the monster you contain. _If I could find out who leaked that information to the public I'd murder them with my bare hands!_ "

Naruto was shocked by the killing intent rolling off the old man. ' _I've never seen him this angry! –and he's angry for my sake?!_ ' "C-calm down Jiji!" said Naruto frightened.

Hiruzen turned to Naruto and quickly reined in his killing intent. He rubbed the moisture from his eyes and said. "Forgive me Naruto-kun. I didn't mean to frighten you." The elderly Kage sat back down tiredly. "I knew if it was ever publicly revealed that you were a jinchūriki you would be hated and ostracized by the public. Your dying Father felt you would be accepted as a hero but I knew you wouldn't. The only people I informed were the jonin council and my advisers who were all sworn to absolute secrecy. There was a security leak and within a week the public was clamoring for your death like a mindless mob. There were attempts on your life and those people were publicly executed. After that I instituted a law that your status as a jinchūriki was a taboo subject but the damage was already done. People hated you even though you were an innocent infant!"

Hiruzen paused for a few minutes to gather his thoughts. The cruelty Naruto had to endure all these years could have been avoided but instead Naruto was persecuted for no reason. It broke his old heart. "Shimura Danzo wanted to train you as a mindless weapon for Konoha and my other advisers agreed. The jonin council was split on the subject of whether you should be weaponized or not. In the end I had to put you in an orphanage with other children as an anonymous war orphan but even then I had my ANBU watching over you. Sadly no one could let go of their hatred and you weren't adopted or treated well. That's why I moved you into your apartment when you were so young."

Naruto looked sadly at the floor. "What do you mean weaponize me?" he asked puzzled.

"I don't know what all you know about jinchūriki Naruto-kun." said the Hokage. "Some are created in desperation like you were to save others from dying but others are created as super soldiers or army killers. If you had been weaponized you simply would have been trained from birth to be an incredibly powerful attack dog; a deterrent to other nations. Given the fact Kyubi is the strongest of the tailed demons it would make you the ultimate weapon. I couldn't let them do that to you Naruto-kun. As cruel and unkind as your life has been that would have been infinitely worse. All I ever wanted for you was to grow up a happy, normal boy that would eventually become a fine Prince but at every turn I've failed….I cannot begin to tell you how truly sorry I am…." said the old man as tears streamed down his face. He felt this was his biggest failure since Orochimaru went bad.

Naruto was now crying again too. Seeing his Grandfather figure looking so broken made him feel awful inside. Sure he was still furious at the old man but seeing his Jiji cry was just too much and he sobbed out in anguish at the unfairness of it all….

The pair sat in silence for a long time each wondering what to do next. Naruto understood the nature of the seal on his gut but revealing the information would send people into chaos. The only people he would trust with his secrets for now were Hinata-chan and Maya-chan and he would swear them to secrecy.

 **Hyūga Compound**

ANBU Bear and his partner Dove came in to retrieve Hyūga Hanako because she was the only member of the Hyūga clan that Hinata admitted she trusted. The pair were escorted in and knocked on the door to Hanako's room in the main house building. Hanako answered the door wearing a floral print kimono and had her long silver hair up in a ponytail. Bear noticed she was quite striking for someone that was sixty two. Hanako said in a bored tone, "If you are here to deliver another date invitation from the Hokage tell him I said 'no' because he's too short and too old."

Bear and Dove stood there in shock for a few moments with dumbfounded looks behind their masks. Then Dove lost it and burst into uncontrollable laughter while Bear just shook his head. Bear said. "Hanako-sama; we are here regarding your granddaughter Hinata-sama."

"Hanako said, "That's different then; please come in." as she ushered them inside.

The two ANBU entered and seeing that Dove still had the giggles Bear reported, "Hanako-sama, it has come to the attention of Doctor Akira, Hokage-sama and the medical staff that you are the only one out of the entire Hyūga clan that Hinata-sama trusts unconditionally. We were asked to bring you to see her and to talk with Doctor Akira regarding her welfare."

"So Hiashi has been deemed an unfit parent?" asked Hanako.

"We are unaware of Hiashi-sama's situation Hanako-sama. We were strictly sent for you but rest assured you are in no trouble." said Dove having regained her composure.

Hanako nodded. "Well that's obvious given I haven't _done_ anything. I'll get my things and we can go." she promptly exited to her bedroom.

Dove said, "I like her."

"She _is_ quite a woman." agreed Bear. "I don't think I'd want to be on her bad side though." Dove nodded.

Hanako came out looking quite regal and said. Well, what are we waiting for children? I assume they're in the hospital secure ward."

"You know about that ward?" asked Dove in surprise.

Hanako gently rolled up her sleeve showing an unusual ANBU tattoo-one of a Commander. "I was once known as Raven. Of course I know where the ward is."

Both ANBU gasped. "You mean ANBU Commander Raven of the twin blades?" asked Dove with awe in her voice.

"That would be correct child." said Hanako.

"You are a legend Hanako-sama." said Bear reverently as he and his partner bowed. "We are honored to meet you."

"Enough of that." said Hanako. "That was a long time ago. I trust you two can keep that little tidbit a secret?"

"Yes ma'am!" they answered crisply.

"Then let us go." said Hanako as she slipped on her sandals and led them out.

Dove followed along pondering the living legend ahead of her and feeling humbled. She wanted to ask for an autograph. ' _Commander Raven was the youngest ANBU Commander ever and the first female one. During the Second Shinobi War she won countless times against impossible odds. I'd love to hear some of the tales of her exploits_.'

Bear was thinking along the same lines. ' _It's said her kenjutsu was second to none. I never would have dreamed she was a Hyūga given they are known just for their taijutsu and the byakugan. It's no wonder Hanako-sama looks so fit. I'd never guess she was in her sixties. Judging by what I can tell I'd bet she's still very formidable._ '

They went at a moderate pace since Hanako didn't seem to be in a hurry. Hanako then made an ANBU hand signal and the three vanished in a body flicker so they wouldn't give away the position of the hidden ward. Moments later they appeared inside the ward and Hanako went through the motions of being checked in by the ANBU guards acting as if she was an ordinary civilian. One of the guards who was a sensor said, "Forgive me Hanako-sama but I don't see why a civilian woman of your age would have the chakra capacity of an elite jonin or more. I need to look into this."

Hanako simply looked bored and said, "I'm a retired shinobi and I stay fit boy, that's reason enough."

The sensor said, "Still I-"

That's when Doctor Akira showed up. "I will vouch for Hanako-sama guard. Let her pass." The guards stepped aside and Akira greeted Hanako properly. "It's wonderful to see you again Hanako-chan. I see your feminine wiles have only improved with age."

"Aren't you married Akira?" asked Hanako. "Or did Yano finally wise up and dump you?"

Akira acted playfully affronted. "Your words cut me so deeply Hanako; is that any way to talk to a former teammate?"

Hanako shrugged but then got very serious once they were in more secure areas. "Well…?" she asked.

Akira soundlessly handed her Hinata's medical report and said, "You're not going to like this."

Hanako rapidly went through the report stopping here and there to look at specific details. Her face remained impassive but her eyes were filled with rage and unshed tears. After wiping her eyes she said, "This is worse than what Iwa did to me when we were chunin and I was captured."

Akira nodded and said, "She must have inherited her iron will from you Hanako."

"Akira; take me to my granddaughters." said Hanako. Then she added in a tone that would cut steel, "I'll see all those bastards dead starting with my ex-husband. My grandbabies will not set foot inside the Hyūga Compound again while I live."

 **Hokage's Office**

Naruto and Hiruzen were quietly sitting as they ate ramen together. The Hokage ordered it delivered so they wouldn't be disturbed. The old man knew that Naruto was still angry and in shock over what he'd found out. He didn't blame the boy. When Naruto polished of his fifth bowl of ramen he asked, "Jiji; did Kaa-san or Tou-san leave behind anything I could have?"

Sarutobi said. "Their house and everything in it were destroyed in the Kyubi attack but there are a few things here in the Hokage vaults that I meant to give to you when you lineage was revealed. Would you like to have them?"

Naruto nodded sadly. "What are they?"

"Things you'll like Naruto-kun. You'll want to keep them in a safe place though so you may want to store them here." said the Hokage as he got up. Making the appropriate hand seals; the Hokage revealed a hidden passage and motioned Naruto to follow him. After going down two flights of stone steps Hiruzen came to a vault a channeled chakra into it revealing a very complex seal. "Your Mother made this seal Naruto-kun. Some of her fuinjutsu books from Uzu are in here and very valuable. It's one of the things I'd like you to have."

Naruto's eyes lit up at the prospect of seals and followed the old man in. There was a beat up forehead protector there. "This was your Father's forehead protector from when he was a genin. I'll let you have it now but you can't wear it until you are a genin yourself, okay?" Naruto nodded as they went through various things that Hiruzen pointed out. "That's a book of laws pertaining to the Royal Family of Uzu. I've never read it but it will help you to know your ancestors." The Hokage sat it on the sealing scroll with the fuinjutsu books Kushina left behind and Minato's forehead protector.

"What's in this box Jiji?" asked Naruto looking at a long black box made of ebony wood with intricate gold inlays in decorative patterns. It had the Uzukmaki family crest on top of it also in gold.

Hiruzen looked nonplussed. "I'd like to know myself Naruto-kun but the truth is your Mother had it with her when she came to Konoha and it was immediately put into storage down here. I don't know if even she knew what was in it and if she did Kushina took the secret to the grave with her. We made an attempt to open it a decade ago but it has multiple layers of protective seals on it that are very dangerous if seriously tampered with."

"Can I see it?" asked Naruto.

Hiruzen shrugged and said, "I don't see why not; it's yours after all." Hiruzen lifted the box down and sat it on the floor so Naruto could get a good look at it.

Naruto moved around it and looked at the box from various angles (even the bottom) and channeled chakra through it showing a massive seal array. Then he traced his hands over the decorations engraved on the top of the box and nodded sagely to himself. Hiruzen watched with an eyebrow raised as Naruto ran his pointer finger over the decorations once again with his eyes closed. To the old Hokage it was uncanny since he'd seen Kushina do the exact same thing on many occasions. He could practically see the red head's image their superimposed over Naruto's.

Naruto opened his eyes and said in a flat tone, "Let me guess; everyone tried to disable the protective layers and barriers instead of completing the unlocking seals right?"

Hiruzen got a completely dumbfounded look on his face and said intelligently, "Ummm…. _What_ unlocking seals are you talking about Naruto-kun?"

Naruto sighed and shook his head as if he was disappointed. He pointed at the Uzumazi Family Crest. " _This_ is a blood seal presumably keyed to my Kaa-san's blood." Then Naruto pointed to the eight inlaid gold inscriptions on the corners of the box. _These_ are half written seals that must be completed to unlock the box lid. Seeing Hiruzen still had a look of confusion on his face Naruto face palmed and said. "Here, just watch Jiji."

Naruto bit into his thumb with his lengthened canine and quickly traced over the decorative markings on the box and then continued the fuinjutsu pattern across to the next pattern. Repeating the process four times in a certain order there now was an intricate fuinjutsu pattern around the edge of the entire top of the box. Each side was slightly different and Naruto did it with such deft and artistic movements that Hiruzen felt like he was watching a veteran seal master. When Naruto finished (it took only a couple of minutes) the seals written in Naruto's blood began to glow bright blue and Hiruzen was a bit dazzled.

Naruto bit his thumb again since it had already healed over and said. "Now for the finishing touch." He swiped his blood across the Uzumaki Clan symbol and there was a quiet ' _click'_ noise as the lid of the box unlocked itself. Naruto gingerly removed the lid and said, "Let's see what's in this treasure box Jiji." Sarutobi Hiruzen was totally gob smacked. Some of the best seal masters they had studied the black box for literal _months_ and made no progress yet a fourteen year old boy figured it out in _ten minutes!_ Peering into the box he saw it was filled with white silk of the highest quality.

The Hokage said excitedly, "Well, what are you waiting for Naruto-kun? Let's see what's under the silk! I'm dying to know!"

"Patience old man." said Naruto cheekily. "I'm waiting for my thumb to heal over so I won't get blood on the silk."

"Oh, of course." said Hiruzen abashedly.

A couple of minutes later Naruto gently folded back the silk and revealed….a katana in an ornate black sheath.

"Shippuuhime…." gasped Hiruzen with wide eyes.

"Hurricane Princess?" asked Naruto.

Hiruzen nodded reverently. "Naruto-kun; I am positive you hold in your hands the legendary sword of the Uzumaki Royal Family…. Shippuuhime."

LONG POSTSCRIPT:

Okay, it's official: Hinata and Hanabi's Grandma Hanako is a badass. As a former ANBU Commander her philosophy is a little more vicious than most grannies. Heads _will_ roll for what went down with Hinata. Thanks to several authors for suggesting I make her a more prominent character instead of a minor background one as originally planned.

A few notes, I took an alternative route with the Third Hokage's outlook. I could see Minato in his death throes (and probably not thinking too clearly with his soul sucked out and massive blood loss) saying that he wanted to see the village treat his son as a hero. I don't see an experienced Hokage and leader of many like Hiruzen having the same blind/misplaced faith in the villagers. He wanted Naruto's status as a demon container kept secret but there was an information leak. Also, Obito is toast and his body was disposed of. His identity wasn't revealed to Naruto because Hiruzen feared Naruto would try to kill Sasuke in revenge.

Also, Naruto isn't all forgiving in this story. He will come to understand the Hokage's reasoning but not right away. There will be an underlying tension between the two of them for some time (and Hiruzen might wake up dressed as a geisha).

I briefly considered having Naruto receive letters left from Minato and Kushina. Many have taken this path and it's a viable route (and usually a bit of a tearjerker) but as I pondered the idea I thought to myself; "Do I know any parents that wrote letters for their yet to be born children or on their deathbed?" The answer is no. As I said, it's a viable route and often good but I decided not to take it.

As for Emi and Bunshichi; we'll be seeing more of them in the future. I was originally going to flesh them out a bit more but Naruto and Hiruzen's little chat took most of the chapter. A note on Emi: She has red hair in the manga but hot pink in the anime. I went with red.

As a final note regarding the sword Shippuuhime; there were several names I thought of and none of them seemed too great. The name Shippuhime is okay in my opinion but not awesome like I hoped. If someone thinks of something spectacular I'll come back and change it. The sword will have some sort of abilities but I don't know what yet. (It's not going to be like a sword from Bleach). I do plan for it to be damn near indestructible because it's covered it seals though. The major thing is Naruto needed a high quality piece of steel to learn kenjutsu with. See you next chapter. Blue out. 5/18/15

EDITED 5/22/15


	5. Chapter 5

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE:_

Mainly character driven stuff this chapter, not a ton of action. Without further ado, here's chapter 5:

Last time:

 _….The Hokage said excitedly, "Well, what are you waiting for Naruto-kun? Let's see what's under the silk! I'm dying to know!"_

 _"Patience old man." said Naruto cheekily. "I'm waiting for my thumb to heal over so I won't get blood on the silk."_

 _"Oh, of course." said Hiruzen abashedly._

 _A couple of minutes later Naruto gently folded back the silk and revealed….a katana in an ornate black sheath._

 _"Shippuuhime…." gasped Hiruzen with wide eyes._

 _"Hurricane Princess?" asked Naruto._

 _Hiruzen nodded reverently. "Naruto-kun; I am positive you hold in your hands the legendary sword of the Uzumaki Royal Family…. Shippuuhime."_

 **Chapter 5**

 **Konoha, Hokage Storage Vaults**

Hiruzen said "Channel a little chakra into the hilt Naruto-kun. Given you're of the Royal Line it should resonate with your chakra so you will be acknowledged as its master."

"Are you saying this sword is actually _alive_ Jiji?" The idea kind of creeped out Naruto. He was afraid of ghosts after all.

"No, but if it accepts you as its master then you'll have full access to its abilities." explained the Hokage. "To everyone else it would act like a normal katana."

Naruto picked up the Shippuuhime and channeled some chakra into it. He soon felt it resonate with his chakra – _twice_. Then the sheath unlocked. Raising an eyebrow Naruto said, "There's something weird about this." He drew the katana from its scabbard and saw a polished black blade like he'd never seen before. The surface had rippling patterns like water on it whenever he touched it even though it was solid and the cutting edge was steel blue. Naruto channeled chakra through the hilt again and saw some incredibly complex seal arrays. "What are this sword's abilities Jiji?" asked the blond curiously as he admired it.

"Legend has it Shippuuhime was to have been able to control the weather in some manner Naruto-kun." answered the aged Sarutobi. "I never have seen it before but supposedly it inspired the creation of the Second Hokage's Lightning Sword Raijin. To be honest I'd bet we are the only living souls to have laid eyes on this sword since before Konoha's founding. It and the wakizashi that went with it were rumored to have been lost or destroyed long ago."

"It has a sister sword?" asked Naruto as he continued to study the sealing array.

Sarutobi replied, "Yes Shippuuhime's sister sword was said to rarely accept _anyone_ as its master even from the Uzumaki Royal Family and was sealed away for good by the Uzumaki's themselves. It was called Kurimuzo-kougou because it craved blood. It was said to be the dark twin of the Shippuuhime. As famous as Shippuuhime was the Kurimuzokougou was infamous."

"Crimson Empress, eh? I guess that's a good name for a sword that craves blood 'ttebayo." Naruto bit his thumb again and started applying a fuinjutsu pattern to the Shippuuhime's blade.

"What are you doing Naruto-kun?" asked the Hokage confused.

"I felt my chakra resonate _twice_ with this sword Jiji." said Naruto. "I'm positive they sealed the Kurimuzo-kougou _inside_ the Shippuuhime so I'm applying my blood to unlock the sealing array that's _separate_ from the others….the others are too complex for me to understand at this point but the separate one is simpler –ah, here we go." A light shined briefly and another hilt slowly rose from the side of Shippuuhime's blade as If it was emerging from water. Naruto gently grasped the hilt of the wakizashi and drew it out, sheath and all. The Hokage gasped when he saw the matching sword come out. When it fully emerged Shippuuhime's blade returned to its previous state with the calm rippling patterns. "This was _meant_ to be found Jiji. I felt both blades resonate with my chakra."

The Hokage watched Naruto carefully slide the Shippuuhime back into its sheath and lay it back on the silk in the box. Then he channeled chakra through the hilt of Kurimuzo-kougou and it too unlocked acknowledging Naruto as its master. He drew the wakizashi slowly from its sheath and saw it matched Shippuuhime in every way except it was shorter and the cutting edge was blood red. When Naruto channeled chakra through it he found Kurimuzo-kougou was also covered in layers of complex seals and had a rippling effect in the metal just like its sister sword. Naruto's eyes studied the blade and he said in awe, "These seals are incredible! _I must study them!_ "

Hiruzen nearly face faulted. ' _Any other child would be dazzled at the swords but_ ** _only_** _an Uzumaki child would be more interested in the seals on them than the weapons themselves. I have this feeling that all his Royal ancestors are laughing their asses off at me from the grave. There's no doubt in my mind Naruto-kun is a sealing genius from what he's done today though_.' "Naruto-kun…."

"Yes old man?" said Naruto studying the blades' surface and not really paying attention to the Hokage.

"You said Iruka wanted you to patent some seals you invented?" asked the elder.

Naruto looked up at the Hokage. "Huh?! –Oh yeah but they are _completely amateur_ compared to the sheer _beauty_ of the seal arrays on these two swords. Whoever did this work was a true _artist!_ " Naruto's eyes suddenly were ablaze with determination. "Someday I will create a masterpiece like this! I swear it!" The blonde's voice was rising and rising like an evangelist at the pulpit. "I now realize that I am a mere acolyte in the art that is fuinjutsu! I swear upon the blood of my ancestors flowing through my veins that I will discover the _true_ beauty of sealing! _Yeah_ , verily I am behooved to-" _smack!_ "Ow! Why did you hit my head Jiji?" pouted Naruto.

"The religious fervor was a little too much for me to handle Naruto-kun." said Sarutobi in a flat tone….

 **Konoha Hospital, Secure Ward**

Hanako knocked on Hinata's door and was let in by the nurse. Hinata saw her Grandmother and rushed over to embrace her. "Hanako Obaa-chan! I've wanted to see you so much!" Hinata said as a torrent of tears burst forth from her. Hanabi sprang up and hugged Hanako as well.

Holding her Granddaughters close Hanako said, "I'm here for you Hinata-chan. I will keep both you and Hanabi-chan safe. I swear it."

"But I'm so w-weak…." said Hinata sadly.

"You are _not_ weak Hinata-chan." said Hanako in an iron tone. "Those teachers of yours were the weak ones telling you all that garbage. I will teach you _my_ version of the juken and I will teach Hanabi–chan the traditional juken."

Hinata rubbed her eyes. "Your version Obaa-chan?"

Hanako nodded and sat her granddaughters down on the bed. Standing back in front of them Hanako took a juken stance. "This is traditional juken. Hanabi-chan's body is perfect for it." said Hanako as she went through the stiff, solid movements that both girls already knew by heart. "This style is for hitting multiple enemies and having a solid defense like _earth_. I have secretly trained your cousin Neji in it and I will do the same for you Hanabi-chan. You already are superb at it and I will make you even better." Hanabi smiled and nodded in excitement.

Hanako the assumed a totally different stance though it was obviously still juken. "This stance is based on _water_ Hinata-chan. You're body is slender and flexible like mine. In this case instead of a defense like a wall you dance and flow around your opponents. They can't hurt what they can't hit. Your strikes also flow like water with whip like movements. _This_ is the style that your body is built for. There is no doubt in my mind you will _excel_ at it. My own Grandmother taught it to me and I will impart it to you. I saw from when you were little it would suit you but the boneheaded elders couldn't bear the thought of the clan's heiress not using the traditional style."

The elder soon sat down between her two granddaughters and said, "I should have intervened years ago but I didn't associate with the rest of the family after I divorced your damned Grandfather. I'm so sorry Hinata-chan. I promise I'll make you two into some of the strongest juken users ever. It will be hard work but know that you will never disappoint me as long as you both do you best….and Hinata-chan; you are _not_ weak. You simply had poor teachers. They are the ones to blame for your problems, not you. Understand?"

Hinata nodded and hugged her Grandmother tightly. "I love you Obaa-chan."

Hanako just smiled and held her two granddaughters close. "And I love both of you my little angels." ' _I wonder if Hinata-chan would like to wield twin swords….perhaps I should pass that down as well._ '

 **Abandoned Training Grounds**

Uzumaki Naruto left the Hokage's office feeling both fulfilled and frustrated. Had had permission to tell about the Kyubi (like he was that stupid!) but more importantly he had permission to reveal his Mother was Uzumaki Kushina. He couldn't mention his Father or his Royalty for safety reasons but at least he had his Mom. Still, he was furious with Jiji and the village in general so he decided to vent his anger on an innocent training post rather than go back to class. He wanted to talk to Maya-chan and Hinata-chan but right now he was just too angry and didn't want to upset them.

It was upon this sight of Naruto murdering a training post that Tawara Bunshichi arrived. "Hey kid, what are you doing? Shouldn't you be in class or something?" Bunshichi was supposed to be monitoring the Academy himself but got bored and decided to slack off and have a smoke break (Hypocrite).

Naruto turned to Bunshichi and said, "What the _hell_ is it to you pal?" with an angry glare that would make the shinigami proud.

Bunshichi cringed a little at Naruto's death glare. ' _He's definitely Kushina-sama's son. When she got that look people ran like hell._ ' "I was just passing by and I saw you punching that post, I figured you were an Academy student. I'm Tawara Bunshichi by the way. If you want to skip class it's cool with me."

Naruto relaxed a little bit but kept his guard up. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto 'ttebayo. I'm just practicing instead of listening to Iruka-sensei's boring lectures."

Bunshichi wanted to chuckle at Umino Iruka giving boring lectures. When they were in the Academy Iruka was the first to complain that lectures were boring. "Well, that's pretty ironic that Umino is a teacher. He was the class clown when we went to the Academy together." Bunshichi said trying to break the ice.

Naruto cocked his head. "You were in the same class as Iruka-sensei?"

The jonin nodded. "Yep. I wasn't best friends with him or anything but we knew each other. He always played around and slept in class and made us all laugh at him. He was an orphan and I think he did it to draw attention. I was involved in a couple of his practical jokes that even got us both suspended. Good times."

"I've never seen you before." said Naruto.

"I've been on a long term mission." said Bunshichi. "I haven't been here in Konoha in eight years."

Naruto whistled, "Wow, I bet you missed home a lot."

Bunshichi nodded. "Yeah, I missed Konoha but I mainly missed the babes. The girls in Fire Country are the best." he said dreamily with a slight blush.

Naruto got a flat expression. "So you're a pervert."

"I just have a deep respect and admiration for the female form; especially our kunoichis here. Someday I'd like to settle down with one and have a family but until then I'll just have fun." explained the jonin.

Naruto nodded. "That's a cool dream. So why were you watching me?"

Bunshichi shrugged. "You were throwing off gobs of unfocused killing intent so I decided to investigate. I thought maybe there was a fight was going on. Then I got to watching you hitting that post wrong."

"Hitting it wrong?" asked Naruto. "I'm punching the damn thing! How is that _wrong?_ "

Tawara came over and hooked his hand the way Naruto was hitting and punched one of the other posts. "This is how you are punching. You're wasting lots of energy and not doing much damage." He punched the post again and dented it the way Naruto was. "Now, if you hold your fist straight and exert the power from your forearm properly it does this." He punched the post and it nearly shattered. "I used the same amount of energy in both punches; see the difference?"

Naruto suddenly got stars in his eyes. "Can you teach _me_ to hit that way?" he asked excitedly. _'I'll be able to really waste Sasuke teme with this!'_ he thought chuckling evilly to himself.

Bunshichi wondered about the evil chuckling but decided to help the boy. "Sure; why not? I've got time to burn. Let's start by holding your wrists and elbows right. You're going to be dealing with muscle memory that is all wrong after all."

It took about an hour with Bunshichi's careful guidance before Naruto had it exactly right. Tawara quickly figured out Naruto was a tactile learner so by showing the boy _physically_ how to do things Naruto soaked it up fast. "Okay Naruto; now that you have down the basics punch the post at low energy fifty times with each arm. Since you've been doing it wrong so long you'll have to practice a lot to build up new muscle memory.

Naruto was soon hard at work and could actually _feel_ the difference in the way his energy flowed through his arms. It was as if this was how he was _meant_ to do it all along. "This is like the difference between night and day Bunshichi-sensei! How come I wasn't shown this years ago?"

"I'm curious myself." said Bunshichi as he lit up another cancer stick. "Who taught you taijustu?"

"It was... _Mizuki sensei_." said Naruto darkly with a hiss in his voice. "I never realized till now it but he's been sabotaging me from day one because of my _tenant_. He's going to _pay_ 'ttebayo."

"So you know about your passenger, eh?" asked Bunshichi.

"I just found out recently." said Naruto darkly. "Kids my age don't know but the adults...that's another story."

"Well, don't go off the deep end like my best friend did and start killing people." said Bunshichi seriously. "You seem like an okay kid. Don't let them win by giving in now after all these years. You're stronger than that if you're _her_ son."

"You knew my Kaa-san?" asked Naruto.

Tawara cringed; he hadn't meant to let that slip. "I don't know if the Hokage will let me talk about it. Anyway I'm not one hundred percent sure."

"Then you knew Uzumaki Kushina?" asked Naruto pointedly.

"When did you find out?" asked the jonin.

Naruto sighed, "I found out just this morning. I'm really upset at Hokage Jiji."

"Don't be too hard on Hokage-sama; he really did try his best. Of course; I was still a kid then." said Bunshichi.

"Can you tell me about my Kaa-san?" asked Naruto with longing in his voice.

"Your Mother was an incredibly hot red headed bombshell, her measurements were-" started Bunshichi as Naruto clobbered him into the dirt with his face red from embarrassment.

"Pervert! I want to know about her personality; not her measurements!" screeched Naruto.

Bunshichi dug his face out of the dirt and said, "Well why didn't you say so? I mean she was a walking wet dream-"

"I going to _slowly_ murder you Bushichi-sensei..." said Naruto as he unintentionally smothered the area in killing intent.

"Okay; okay!" said the sweating jonin. "Take it easy. The truth is your Mother changed my life when I was a genin. She told me that _You have to do_ ** _anything_** _to win when you are protecting others_ ** _._** My entire ninja career was changed by her words. She taught me how to fight dirty, underhanded and vicious whenever necessary; just like when you wrecked that Uchiha kid the other day. I suspected you were her kid when you did that but when you said ' _ttebayo_ I was sure of it."

"What does my 'ttebayo have to do with anything?" asked Naruto in puzzlement.

"Your Mom always said _'ttebane_ when she got excited. She called it her 'verbal tick.' It must be genetic." explained Bunshichi.

 _ **"Cool!"**_ whooped Naruto. "My Mom was even _more_ awesome than I thought! We even talk the same. Can you look over the rest of my taijustu forms Bunshichi- sensei?" asked Naruto bouncing around. "I'll bet that bastard Mizuki screwed me over from the beginning."

"Well, let me see your katas." said the smoker. "I've got this bad feeling Mizuki messed up all your forms."

 _An hour later_...

Bunshichi rubbed his chin. "Well, you have amazing evasion skills for someone in the Academy. Someone else must have taught you those."

"Anko nee-chan did!" said Naruto enthusiastically. "She uses me for target practice all the time. I asked her to teach me her fighting style but she said my body wasn't built for it." he pouted.

"By Anko nee-chan do you mean _Mitarashi Anko_?" asked Bushichi with a leer.

Naruto nodded eagerly, "Yep! Anko nee-chan is my adoptive big sister. She has this ridiculous idea the dango is the food of the gods but anyone with any sense knows it's ramen. Dango is blasphemy! Do you know her well?"

Bunshichi was blushing with a bit of a nosebleed. "Oh I _want_ to know her well; what an incredible body..." he was off in fantasy land until Naruto yelled his name and brought him back to reality by putting a bump on his head...

"No perving about Anko nee-chan!" said Naruto angrily.

"Sorry kid but it's kind of hard _not_ to perv on your nee-chan. You'll understand when you're older." said Tawara. "Anyway, your body is built for speed and power. You don't have the flexibility necessary for the snake style she uses so she is right not to train you. Your body _is_ ideal for the moves your Mom taught me though. I don't have a set style but the taijutsu style your Mom used had a lot of circular motions and twists. It was brutal in every sense of the word. I think she said it originated in the Land of Whirlpools where she grew up."

Bushichi nodded to himself. "For now let's concentrate on the Academy style with a lot a free form moves like Kushina-sama taught me. I'll bet if you ask the Hokage once you've cooled off he might have information on the Whirlpool style or whatever it's called. You can start learning that once you graduate."

The pair was out practicing until long after the Academy let out...

 **Konoha Hospital, Secure Ward**

Natsume Maya was worried for Naruto-kun; he was supposed to come to the Academy after getting those seals patented but hadn't ever shown up. She hoped he'd ditched school to visit Hinata-chan but according to the ANBU he hadn't been by. Maya decided to go ahead and visit Hinata-chan by herself. She hoped her friend wouldn't be too down since Naruto-kun wasn't with her. As the ANBU knocked on the door she heard Hanabi's giggling from within before Hinata said, "Come in please."

Maya saw Hinata looking very happy sitting on her bed as she saw and regal looking Hyuga woman sitting in a chair by the bed with Hanabi snuggled in her lap. It was obvious they had a lively conversation going on. Maya hated to interrupt but Hinata said, "Maya-chan! Come in and meet my Obaa-chan Hanako. She's the one I told you about."

Realizing this was the relative that Hinata always spoke of so highly (even before she was being abused) Maya came over and bowed before saying, "I am Natsume Maya; I'm very pleased to meet you Hanako-sama. Hinata-chan has said many good things about you over the years."

Hanako nodded. "You are a well mannered young lady Maya; Hinata-chan spoke highly of you as well."

"Are you here to take Hinata-chan and Hanabi-chan home Hanako-sama?" asked Maya.

"Most certainly not!" said Hanako sternly. "I will not take my granddaughters back to that prison of a compound where they can be abused. We were just discussing other alternatives. They will be staying with me. I'm sure I can afford a small house with my pension."

Maya was a bit taken aback at the older woman's forceful manner but said, "I've already invited Hinata-chan and Hanabi-chan to live at the Natsume clan home for as long as she needs. It's much too big for just my little sister Aya-chan and I. You would be welcome there to if you want to keep an eye on Hanabi-chan while the rest of us are at the Academy."

"Hmmm...that is a very noble and generous offer Natsume-san." said Hanako. "We will have to make monetary arrangements. What do you think Hinata-chan?"

"I would feel safe living with Maya-chan and Aya-chan but I don't want to impose." said Hinata shyly.

Maya shook her head. "You wouldn't be imposing Hinata-chan. Aya-chan and I would love to have you! It would be more like we have a family again...it would be like gaining two sisters and an Obaa-chan!"

Hinata got up and bowed formally. "Then I will accept your gracious invitation into the Natsume Clan home." The two girls hugged each other. "Is that alright Hanako Obaa-chan?"

"If it makes you happy then of course it's all right Hinata-chan!" said Hanako. "We will write up a contract that Hiashi can pay for that is quite equitable for Natsume-san."

"What if Tou-san won't pay?" asked Hinata worriedly.

"Oh _he will pay_ my dear." said Hanako. Trust me, I assure you that one way or another I will _make_ him pay."

Maya got a strange chill up her spine. _'Something tells me that Hanako-sama isn't an ordinary Obaa-chan_...'

 **Naruto's Apartment**

Naruto dragged himself into his apartment having worked out hard all afternoon and evening with Bunshichi-sensei. The fourteen year old had a lot on his mind. He'd stopped by Ichiraku's and gorged himself before coming home. He'd totally blown off class today but he really didn't care. He _did_ feel bad for not seeing Maya-chan and Hinata-chan today though. He wanted to go and see them but he was exhausted both mentally and physically. He'd been lucky to meet Bunshichi-sensei. All the physical activity had helped him get rid of all those pent up emotions. He still owed Mizuki-sensei _years_ of payback though….As Naruto showered he briefly pondered giving Mizuki an amateur vasectomy with a dull, rusty kunai but the prankster couldn't think of a way to leave no evidence behind to cover his tracks….he'd ponder it in the morning after he got some sleep….

 **3 A.M.**

Naruto awoke thinking of everything that happened today and was absolutely plagued with horrible nightmares. The fourteen year old blonde simply couldn't stop crying. He felt frightened and torn about the Kyubi even though he new logically from his sealing knowledge that everyone should be perfectly safe. Looking at the clock and noticing it was storming outside Naruto decided to see someone who would understand….he hated to bother her but….

 **Mitarashi Anko's Apartment**

Anko was having a pleasant dream about skinning her former sensei alive and making a nice snakeskin belt and accessories out of his pale ass. She suddenly was jolted out of bed by someone pounding on her front door. Looking at her clock she thought aloud, "It's 3:30 in the fucking morning! Who the **_hell_** is pounding on my door?!" She threw on a yukata thinking ' _It had better be ANBU with an S-class emergency **or else**_ ….' The Snake Mistress flung her door open angrily and found Naruto slumped down against her doorframe crying. Anko crouched down to the sobbing boy and asked, "Naruto-kun…?"

The soaking, sobbing Naruto flung himself into Anko's arms and said, "A-Anko nee-chan; the Kyubi….I; _WAAAAHHH!_ " The boy wailed as she pulled him inside out of the rain and closed the door behind her. Naruto spent the next two hours curled up in a ball crying his eyes out to Anko as she gently coaxed it all out of him. Naruto explained to her about how he'd figured out about Kyubi from the seals on his stomach and then his confronting the Hokage about it. He also talked about Kushina and how he couldn't talk about the rest….Anko rarely showed her gentle side to anyone but she would for her little brother….It was a long and awful night for both of them and Naruto finally fell into a dreamless sleep around six in the morning.

Anko looked at the clock and thanked the heavens she had the day off. She remembered Naruto talking about how guilty he felt about not seeing Maya-chan and Hinata-chan. He also talked about meeting that smoker Tawara Bunshichi and about how he explained Mizuki had trained Naruto all wrong….She cursed herself for not noticing but had solely focused on his evasion skills. (The kid was gifted at stealth she was proud to say). Making a shadow clone she wrote a note and sent her clone out to deliver it to Iruka. The clone would visit Hinata and Maya as well. Anko wanted to talk to Bunshichi personally. Maybe the lazy bum could help Naruto out but Anko wanted to be sure of his motives….it wouldn't be the first time someone tried to gain Naruto's trust so they could hurt him later. Anko _wanted_ to gut Mizuki but it was obvious Naruto wanted to do that himself….she'd let the crooked instructor live for now.

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Anko's shadow clone soon arrived at the Natsume residence and knocked on the door. Aya soon opened it with a bright smile. "Anko-san! It's so nice to see you. What brings you by this morning?"

The Snake Mistress had known the Natsume sisters through Naruto for years so they were pretty comfortable around each other. "Aya-chan, I'm here to see if Maya-chan is up. Is she around?"

Aya nodded and raced off to get her big sister. Maya soon came to the door, "Anko-san; is it Naruto…?"

Anko's clone nodded and said, "Maya-chan; Naruto is going to be fine but he's really upset right now. He wanted to come see you and explain but he's not up to it emotionally." Seeing the panicked look on Maya's face she cut the girl off and said. "Naruto-kun is going to be _just fine_. He just needs a little time. He may come back to the Academy tomorrow or the next day but for right now I'm watching over him so he's safe. Don't worry okay? I'm a clone so I need to visit Iruka to excuse him from class and see Hinata as well. She's still in the Secure Ward right?"

Maya nodded. "Please tell him I want him to be okay and I miss him Anko-san."

"I will kiddo. He'll be right as rain before you know it." said the clone as she darted off.

 **Konoha Ninja Academy**

Iruka arrived in the teacher's lounge and found Mizuki looking embarrassed and angry as Anko's clone was laughing herself sick at his pink hair. "Bwahahaha! Boy, when you came out of the closet; you didn't do it by halves Mizuki-chan! Go over to the red light district and ask some of the working girls for some makeup tips; you're _never_ going to land a man at this rate! Bwahahaha!" Mizuki stormed out of the lounge in a rage just as Iruka was coming in and the clone went from rolling in the floor laughing to dead serious. "Iruka; just the person I want to see." She handed him a note and said; "For your eyes only." before she left briskly.

Iruka quickly opened the note.

 _Chunin Umino Iruka:_

 _Uzumaki Naruto has found out about his tenant and will not be attending class the next day or two. I also have confirmed his Mother is Uzumaki Kushina-sama, 'The Red Hot Habanero.' If he makes this claim you are to support him or risk his angry Mother's ghost haunting you for all eternity. Evidence has it Mizuki has been tampering with both Naruto's grades and his training due to his tenant but that is currently under investigation. Watch Mizuki's actions for later reference and intervene if necessary._

 _-Special Jonin Mitarashi Anko, ANBU Torture and Interrogation Division_

Iruka gasped at this bombshell. (He also prayed Kushina-sama's ghost wouldn't come to haunt him. He saw the woman angry only _once_ and it scarred him for life!) ' _No wonder Naruto has such a temper._ ' thought Iruka as he shivered. Deciding that announcing Naruto was sick today and may or may not be back tomorrow was the easiest path he headed on to teach class and keep an eye on Mizuki.

 **Konoha Hospital, Secure Ward**

Anko's clone arrived at Hinata's room and kind of dreaded telling the young girl about Naruto. She knew via the vine and through ANBU reports what the Hyūga heiress had been through and knew she would be further upset hearing one of her best friends was hurting right now but it would be best to tell her. Knocking on the door the clone heard, "Enter." From a rather authoritarian female voice she didn't recognize. Going in she saw Hyūga Hanako eating with her two Granddaughters. The clone went wide eyed seeing Hanako. She remembered the old Hyūga woman that even her ex-sensei Orochimaru gave wide berth. Actually, that was an understatement. He _feared_ the woman but Anko didn't know exactly why.

The clone bowed properly. "Greetings Hanako-sama, I hope I'm not interrupting."

Hanako paused and said, "Ah, young Anko-san. What brings you here?"

Anko's clone quickly explained the situation to Hinata in the most respectful manner she could. She didn't want to piss off Hanako. Hinata was understandably distressed but handled it well enough. The clone was shocked when Hanako hand signed her in ANBU code, [He found out about Kyubi?] The clone signed back in the affirmative and departed. Her job done, the shadow clone dispersed in a puff of smoke.

 **Anko's Apartment**

Naruto and Anko were having a quiet breakfast together when Anko jerked a little when she received her clone's memories. "Are you okay Anko nee-chan?" asked Naruto.

Anko shook her head ' _So old lady Hanako was ANBU back in the day? I wonder what mask she wore_.' "I'm fine Naruto; I just received the memories of my shadow clone and she delivered all the messages to your friends you were going to be off a couple of days. They're okay with it so don't worry."

"Thanks Anko." said the blonde. "Wait, what do you mean _received the memories of your shadow clone?_ "

Anko went into lecture mode. "When you create a shadow clone from your chakra all the memories and experiences it gains returns to you when it disperses. It's an ideal reconnaissance tool."

Naruto perked up for the first time since he'd arrived. "You mean if the shadow clone learns a jutsu then I would too once its memories returned to me?"

"Well, yes in theory." said Anko.

" ** _Teach me oh great Anko-sensei!_** I can't do regular clones so I'll use shadow clones instead!" pleaded Naruto with his eyes huge at the possibilities.

"Whoa; _whoa_ kiddo! The shadow clone is a B-ranked kinjutsu due to the prohibitive chakra costs. I'm a _jonin_ and I can only make three before I'm worn out. You're an _Academy student!_ "

Naruto got a very flat look on his face. "Umm, _hello_ nee-chan? I have _Kyubi_ stuck in my gut so I have more chakra than Hokage Jiji! He told me that himself. I'm sure I can pull off a shadow clone easily when it comes to chakra."

Anko pondered a moment and said. "Well, since you put it that way I guess you're right. I'll get permission from the Hokage. I'm sure he'll agree with that logic."

"Oh _hell_ no! Hokage Jiji and the rest of this village don't _need_ to know about this….It will be our little secret Anko nee-chan." said Naruto with mischief in his eyes.

Anko narrowed her own eyes at her little brother figure. "You aren't planning to _kill_ anybody important are you Naruto-kun?"

Naruto looked affronted. "I would _never_ do such a thing Anko-chan. No one _important_ to the good of Konoha will die at my hands."

"Well, as long as it's no one _important_." replied Anko with a smirk.

 **Abandoned Training Grounds**

Naruto and Anko were working hard on the shadow clone jutsu and Tawara Bunshichi (much to his pleasure) was watching the snake jonin as she 'bounced' about during her instructing. He felt a tap on his shoulder only to come face to face with Anko's very well endowed bosom. Seeing his nose bleeding and his tongue lolling out like a dog's she said, "Are you enjoying the view Tawara-kun?" in a seductive tone. Bunshichi was nodding up and down dumbly with glazed over eyes when her chakra enhanced fist punched his lights out.

"Owww…." said Bunshichi as he opened his eyes and came back into the land of consciousness. He saw Anko standing there holding something that looked like a cross between a rusty serrated saw blade and a short sword. "Oh, dear…." he said.

She smacked him on top of the head and said. "Amateur! A woman shows a little skin and you're defenseless! –And you call yourself a jonin; hmph!"

Bunshichi winced at the bump forming on his head as he noticed he was thoroughly tied up with ninja wire. "In my defense I was a chunin until two weeks ago when I got back. Where are we anyway?" he said as he looked around the very cold, dark and empty building that smelled distinctively like _meat_ they were in.

Anko smiled viciously. "We're in a place where no one will hear you scream and no one will find your remains. Now you can give me the answers I want or I can try my dull, chipped, rusty friend that I found on the ground in the Forest of Death here and see how well it dissects you." He could see her breath in the chilled air.

Bunshichi was sweating. It was bad enough to look at that….instrument. He _really_ didn't want to get cut up by it and he _knew_ Anko would. "What would you like to know Anko-chan?" he asked smiling weakly as perspiration formed on his brow.

"What's your interest in Uzumaki Naruto? He's a hated demon container. Why would _you_ want to help _him?_ " asked Anko in a tone hard as steel.

Tawara said seriously, "His Mother Kushina-sama saved my life when I was just a genin….I figured it was the least I could do to repay her by helping her son…." Bunshichi went on to relay exactly what happened and how much he admired Kushina and wanted to be strong like her. "….and that's how it happened." he finished solemnly.

Anko sealed the rusty blade away and released the wire around Bunshichi. "Alright Tawara; I'll give you my trust and let you train my little brother. But so help me if you hurt him I'll send you to hell in pieces." Seeing her disperse the genjutsu around them Bunshichi realized they were in the meat lockers that where behind the Akimichi restaurant. "You really need to work on your situational awareness Tawara. The whole damn village would have heard you screaming in here."

"I'm going to be training Naruto in defense and evasion along with a few jutsus to give him an edge." said Anko. "I want you to train him in taijutsu and offensive techniques. I know you can train him well by just what I've seen from sparring with him this morning." She chuckled. "Someday I want to see him be as strong as Uzumaki Kushina too. She was one of my role models as a young kunoichi." With that Anko left with a slight sway in her hips and closed the door behind her.

"Wait! What about a date Anko-chan?!" wailed Bunshichi.

"She's already long gone there chief." said Naruto from behind the jonin.

"You've been here this whole time?!" asked Bunshichi.

Naruto nodded. "Yep, Anko-chan said it would be educational for me. I am glad you want to help me though Bunshichi-sensei."

The jonin just shook his head. "Seduced by a walking wet dream only to have fun poked at me by an Academy student. Oh how the mighty have fallen."

Naruto smiled and tossed Tawara his cigarettes. "Now you owe me. I was going to hold those hostage if you didn't cooperate."

The jonin just gaped in shock as Naruto led him out of the meat locker….It was a difficult to render Tawara Bunshichi speechless but the orange wearing brat had done it.

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, a lot of emotional ups and downs for Naruto (understandably). He's going to have to work out a lot in the next few chapters. Mizuki has moved into the #1 slot on Naruto's shit list. He may end up with more than a haircut this time. Naruto is going to be taking pride in his Mother and clan which will have an effect on the views of both his classmates and some adults that knew Kushina. We also have seen Naruto and Anko's brother-sister relationship. It looks like Hanako and the girls will all be living in the Natsume household with Hiashi footing the bill. Will Hiashi try to get his daughters back? See you next chapter. Blue out. 5/21/15

EDITED 5/22/15


	6. Chapter 6

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE:_

Well, after numerous people mentioned I was writing the characters too mature for twelve to thirteen year olds; I asked several of my fellow authors about the subject and decided to change their ages to fourteen-fifteen. I have gone back and edited the earlier chapters to reflect this but unless someone simply wants to reread the earlier chapters nothing else has changed but the kid's ages. Also thanks to **jdr733552** for the suggestion of changing the name of the Kurimuzo. Instead of Kirimuzo (Crimson) it is now Kurimuzo-kougou (Crimson Empress). That being said, here is chapter 6:

Last time:

 _…_ _.With that Anko left with a slight sway in her hips and closed the door behind her._

 _"_ _Wait! What about a date Anko-chan?!" wailed Bunshichi._

 _"_ _She's already long gone there chief." said Naruto from behind the jonin._

 _"_ _You've been here this whole time?!" asked Bunshichi._

 _Naruto nodded. "Yep, Anko-chan said it would be educational for me. I am glad you want to help me though Bunshichi-sensei."_

 _The jonin just shook his head. "Seduced by a walking wet dream only to have fun poked at me by an Academy student. Oh how the mighty have fallen."_

 _Naruto smiled and tossed Tawara his cigarettes. "Now you owe me. I was going to hold those hostage if you didn't cooperate."_

 _The jonin just gaped in shock as Naruto led him out of the meat locker….It was a difficult to render Tawara Bunshichi speechless but the orange wearing brat had done it._

 **Chapter 6**

 **Konoha, Hokage's Office**

Surutobi Hiruzen, _The God of Shinobi_ , was _very_ concerned. It had been a month since Naruto found out about his heritage and….no pranks. **_Not a one_**. Naruto hadn't even revealed his Mother's identity to the other students and Hiruzen had to wonder why. The Hokage was just _waiting_ for the bomb to drop. That isn't to say he hadn't helped Naruto out a bit. The young Uzumaki had seventy-eight seals patented and Hiruzen arranged for him to sell them under a nom de plume. The boy was literally making money hand over fist. The elderly Sarutobi also realized that both Mitarashi Anko and Tawara Bunshichi were helping Naruto out and arranged for them to have time to be his (mission paid) personal tutors out on the private training grounds of the Natsume Clan.

Speaking of the Natsume Clan; Hyūga Hanako and her two granddaughters had taken up residence in the Natsume household and Hanako was helping to instruct the Natsume sisters as well as Naruto in the art of swordsmanship. She also introduced young Hinata to wielding twin kodachis and the girl now was flourishing under her grandmother's guidance in both taijutsu and kenjutsu. Naruto invested a great deal of his time helping out at the Natsume household and Hanako had taken it upon herself to pound some manners into the boy as well as improving his study habits. He'd moved up into the middle of the class in scores. (Iruka was now always grading his tests personally and that also helped).

However, there was still the threat of Naruto getting even with everyone and him raining hell down upon Konoha through pranking. The ANBU had all been on high alert about it since the semi legendary ' _Three Day War'_ that occurred last summer when Naruto unleashed seventy two hours of nightmarish pranks on the village….and he hadn't ever been caught and they could prove _nothing_. It was _terrifying_ to know a mere boy could do so much damage in so little time. Shikaku's assessment of the situation was it was nothing short of brilliant and had Naruto been serious the village infrastructure could have collapsed….poor Shikaku nearly had a nervous breakdown trying to figure out how Naruto pulled it off. Hiruzen finally closed the case since his Jonin commander was starting to drink heavily.

There was also something else weighing on Hiruzen's mind. Jiraiya's recent field reports indicated Suna Village and the new Village of Oto in the Land of Rice in close contact with one another and were both mobilizing for war by all indications. Worse yet, Oto's leader was none other than Orochimaru. They would be fully prepared within eight months – _coincidentally_ when the Chunin Exams were held in Konoha this year. The new genin squads would be completely raw and would be slaughtered without field experience. Danzo suggested they have those ready for it graduate early so they would be prepared to fight –Hiruzen agreed with his comrade/rival so instead of graduating in five months those ready would graduate in two months.

That would give the new genins six months to build up their field experience. Certainly not enough for a full scale war but it would be enough to keep them alive. Bunshichi, Iruka and others all independently evaluated the most recent group and came up with virtually identical results. Those chosen for advanced graduation were:

Aburame Shino

Akimichi Choji

Haruno Sakura

Hyūga Hinata

Inuzuka Kiba

Isuzu Emi

Nara Shikamaru

Natsume Maya

Uchiha Sasuke

Uzumaki Naruto

Yamanaka Ino

That gave Konaha eleven strong potential genins and to fill the last slot Danzo supplied a boy of outstanding ability named Sai. That would allow them to form four teams. It was going to be hard on these youngsters but their childhoods were officially over in two months. That was the way it was going to be and Iruka was going to be making the announcements for the advanced class today. It was simply going to be stated that they had a shortage of qualified genins and the rest of the class would graduate normally.

 **Konoha Ninja Academy**

Iruka had just finished reading off the list of genin hopefuls that would be in the advanced class. Truthfully he was very worried for those students but he also knew they were made of sterner stuff than the others. "….And as a result you eleven will be put in advanced classes per the Hokage's orders. You will be joined by one other but I do not know who he or she is. The decision has not been made who your instructor or instructors will be and you will be reporting to classroom 301 at 4 A.M. starting this coming Monday. I want you to know I'm proud of all of you and I know you will excel in your advanced classes."

" ** _4 A.M.?_** " was the collective shriek of those chosen.

"You're cramming five months of classes into less than half of that time so your days will be long and hard." said Iruka. "It will be a challenge but I promise you it will pay off."

"It's Thursday so that means we only have four days left to have social lives!" lamented Ino. "On the positive side it means I get more time to spend with Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke cringed a bit. He was glad to see Maya was in the class but was disgusted that Naruto was in it too. Ever since the Uchiha lost that spar that landed him in the hospital Naruto hadn't lost to him (or anyone) once. His pride as a Uchiha demanded retribution on the blonde but Naruto's eyes seemed to always burn with a vengeance these days. Sasuke didn't know what had changed but Naruto was no longer someone he (or anyone) could push around. Worst of all Maya stuck to Naruto like glue just like Hinata and the new (and talented) girl Emi. It seemed all the _competent_ kunoichi's were interested in the former dead last for some reason….

"Did you hear that Naruto-kun?" asked Emi. "We've both been selected for the advanced class. Of course it's little wonder since you're so strong. Let's do our best okay?"

Naruto wasn't sure what to think of Isuzu Emi. She had been very excited to meet him and always praised his efforts. She was very nice to him and even asked him to call her Emi-chan. "Ummm….sure Emi-san."

"Emi- _chan,_ remember? You don't need to be so formal with me Naruto-kun." she said with a giggle.

Naruto just didn't get it. Emi seemed so serious around everyone else but she was always girly and friendly with him. ' _I guess it's just one of life's mysteries_ ….' he thought to himself. Neither Maya-chan nor Hinata-chan seemed to like Emi very much but they both admitted they respected her skills as a kunoichi. She was unbelievable with kunai and she was quite scary when angered.

Speaking of scary, Hinata-chan was becoming rather fearsome herself. Hanako Obaa-chan (Yes, Naruto called her Obaa-chan too) had taken Hinata's juken and completely overhauled it from top to bottom. The indigo haired kunoichi was learning fast. The new forms that Hinata-chan learned in the last month alone were making his shy friend into a fighting machine and her confidence and self worth had skyrocketed. Naruto and Maya were both very proud of her.

 _Flashback…._

 _Last night, Naruto was over at the Natsume Clan home enjoying some quality dinner with the Natsume sisters and the Hyūga sisters as well as his favorite Obaa-chan, Hanako. Hinata-chan had insisted on cooking that night and Hanabi-chan assisted her. "This is great Hinata-chan! You'll make a wonderful wife someday." praised Naruto causing the bluenette to sport an atomic blush._

 _"I can't wait for Hinata-chan's famous cinnamon rolls for desert." chirped Aya happily. "Meal times are so much better now."_

 _"My cooking isn't that bad…." pouted Maya. Her eyes narrowed sinisterly at her little sister._

 _"I meant it's much better because everyone is here eating together!" said Aya sweating at her sister's calculative look._

 _Maya smiled rather smugly. "Well, it_ _ **is**_ _nice having two new sisters and a great Obaa-chan to teach us. It's also great that Naruto-kun_ _ **finally**_ _agreed to use Jiji's old office as his fuinjutsu studio. Jiji would have loved that. Now if we could just convince Naruto-kun to move out of his drafty old apartment and out here. It isn't like there isn't plenty of room."_

 _Naruto decided to change the subject before everyone joined in on him moving into the Natsume residence. Truthfully he loved the idea but he didn't want any of the hate aimed at him to ever get any of the girls hurt. He'd told Maya-chan and Hinata-chan all about the Kyubi (and Hanako already knew of course) but he didn't want Hanabi-chan or Aya-chan to know just yet. He exclaimed, "That aside, you should have seen Hinata-chan in our spars today, she really kicked some ass!"_

 _Hanako darted a chopstick that bounced off of Naruto-s forehead. "_ _ **Language**_ _Naruto-kun! There are ladies present and you need to comport yourself properly in the company of others regardless!"_

 _"But Hinata-chan did really well. It was more like watching her dance than fight. She was really graceful Obaa-chan!" whined Naruto as he rubbed his forehead where the 'chopstick of doom' had nailed him._

 _"Then you should have said that to begin with like a gentleman Naruto-kun." said Hanako in a pontificating tone. She turned to Hinata. "I'm very proud of you for doing so well Hinata-chan. I knew you would."_

 _Hinata smiled softly. She really loved having everyone here as a family. She knew Hanako Obaa-chan and Naruto got along really well also. It made_ _ **everyone**_ _happy and content it seemed…._

 _Flashback end…._

Naruto smiled. He had to admit, Hanako Obaa-chan was awesome. She was strict as hell but she had really helped him a lot. It meant a lot to him that she genuinely cared. Hanako had told him a lot about the Kyubi and how it was passed down from Uzumaki Mito-sama to his Mother and then to him. She also had known a few Uzumakis in her time and had been to the Land of Whirlpools before it was destroyed. Her stories really helped him connect with his lost family. It also made him wonder if he'd ever meet any of his distant cousins like Senju Tsunade someday.

 **Lunchtime**

Isuzu Emi was sitting with Nuruto, Hinata and Maya once again. There normally was an underlying tension between the girls (with Naruto sitting obliviously in the line of fire between them) but today's news of the advanced classes pretty much overrode any personal differences between them. "It's almost appropriate they drop a bomb on us on a day with such overcast weather." said Emi in a glum tone as she got out her supersized bento. The others wondered where she put it all.

"I have to agree." said Maya. "It's supposed to be cloudy for days and I think it's a new moon tonight."

Hinata nodded and said quietly, "I have a feeling we're not going to have time to enjoy the weather much the next couple of months anyway. You're going to have to not prank the teachers in class and really work hard on the bookwork Naruto-kun."

"I'm trying Hinata-chan." said Naruto. "This is a real shock to me; I mean, 4 A.M.?"

"Don't worry Naruto-kun; I'm sure you'll do great." said Emi confidently.

"Well, here's to our last few days of freedom." said Maya as the four of them toasted with their water bottles.

"We should celebrate by you joining me for a meal Friday evening after class ends." said Sasuke out of nowhere to Maya. All the fan girls in the class gasped that Sasuke actually asked Maya out. Most were in shock though some were in denial.

Maya got a flat look and was about to retort that she wasn't interested but Naruto cut her off instead. "I'm flattered Sasuke-chan but I don't swing that way. This does explain why you never went out with any of those girls that asked you out though. For what it's worth I suppose I should congratulate you on following Mizuki-sensei's example and finally coming out of the closet."

Sasuke's face turned white in shock as both Maya and Emi exploded into laughter at his expense. Even the always shy Hinata started giggling. Sasuke's eyebrows started twitching uncontrollably as his face turned red and he pointed angrily at Naruto. " _YOU….Damn you bastard! I was asking_ _ **Maya**_ _out!_ "

Naruto didn't bat an eyelash. "Just because you don't take rejection from me well doesn't mean you have to drag poor Maya-chan into this. I'm sure there's a man out there just waiting for an emo pretty boy like you."

Sasuke was purple by now and ready to go off like a bomb. " _That will be enough out of both of you!_ " yelled Iruka before the bloodletting started. "The Hokage doesn't want you all beat up Monday so stand down. Sasuke; go over and eat at the table you always eat at." Sasuke stormed off in a rage swearing to murder the 'orange menace.'

Iruka shook his head. "You're really not helping matters Naruto."

"You're right Iruka-sensei." said Naruto amiably. "I should have sent Sasuke-chan over to Mizuki-sensei for some hair care tips and tender loving care. But really; I am straight. My gay friends in the apartment building I live in refer to me as being 'hopelessly heterosexual.' 'ttebayo. I can't help it that I don't swing his way."

Iruka found the girl's laughter was infectious and practically had to shove his fist in his mouth to keep from bursting into hysterics himself. He wagged a finger accusingly at Naruto before he body flickered away to crack up in private. Fan girls aside, most of the class was either snickering or openly laughing at Sasuke's expense. While all this was going on Naruto cast a glance over at Mizuki. The predatory gleam in his eye was unmistakable to Hinata but she figured whatever Naruto did to Mizuki would be well deserved….

 **Midnight**

Naruto slept peacefully in his apartment as the ANBU quietly monitored him per the Hokage's orders. If he got up and started some massive prank they had to stop him. ANBU Commander Dragon did _not_ want a repeat of the _Three Day War_. Naruto rolled over and cracked an eye open at his clock. He smiled to himself as he saw the second hand hit 12 A.M. He thought to himself with a vulpine smirk, ' _Operation: KARMA is go!_ ' and then went back to sleep.

 _With Mizuki_ ….

Mizuki woke up handcuffed by the legs and arms to a chair. His chakra was sealed and to his horror he was wearing nothing but a white leather speedo with a matching white Gestapo style hat and dog collar. He had a fifty ryo bill of sale stuck in his mouth and it was tattooed on his ass ' _Likes it Rough_.' He saw the biggest, hairiest man he'd ever seen in his life and paled when the man yelled over his shoulder he had to ' _break in the new meat_.' The man then came over and said, 'Your soul had better belong to Kami little bitch; because your ass belongs to me! Now bend over and **_squeal like a pig!_** "

Soon Mizuzuki was…. _This sequence has been deleted to protect the sanity of others and prevent projectile vomiting. A mere 'M' rating is simply not enough to cover this scene in the author's opinion. We now return you to your regularly scheduled story_ ….After a good week of _conditioning_ Mizuki would learn to answer to bitch (it was one of the nicer things he was called) as he serviced gray haired old gentlemen in the Fire Capital's red light district….male sex slavery was a tough job and the crooked sensei was just praying for death….

 _The Inuzuka compound_ ….

In the middle of the night Inuzuka Kiba woke up to the horrid sounds of…. _cats!_ The whole place reeked of the smell of fish sausages and he found he had a string of them wrapped around his neck. He opened the door to his room and he and Akamaru witnessed a battle royale going on between their Inuzuka clansmen and a massive, horrid feline invasion. He heard his Mother scream, "This is worse than the Third Shinobi War!" They would be battling fiendish felines until mid morning when they finally declared victory and located a sales tag to mean old man Kato's fish market. What few remaining Inuzukas in combat shape followed the scent back to old man Kato's and proceed to kick his ass so hard that the old man's ancestors felt it. (It was mere coincidence old man Kato refused service to Naruto as a kid).

 _The Sarutobi Compound_ ….

Sarutobi Asuma woke up tiredly around 4 A.M. to relieve himself. Then he noticed his mirror had been replaced with a hideous painting of a _bearded geisha_ when he washed his hands. He then was shocked awake when he realized it was his _mirror_. After shrieking like a little girl he turned on his bedroom light and realized his room had been redone with white walls covered in red hearts and his bed was covered in rose petals and smelled like cheap perfume. He quickly dashed out and saw all the adult males done up the way he was and were in a state of shock. Their wives and girlfriends were laughing hysterically at their appearance as well as the children.

Seeing his Father come out of the main room he saw Hiruzen come out dressed to kill in the fanciest outfit of all –he was obviously the 'madam' of this operation. His ten year old nephew Konohamaru was laughing himself sick at his Jiji's appearance. The outside of the compound had a huge banner that said, ' _For Your Eyes Only: Lady Hiruzen's Male Courtesans GRAND OPENING SALE!_ ' The outside of the compound was also decorated is tasteless heart patterns in pink and red. The only positive thing Asuma could think was ' _At least Kurenai-chan is out on a mission….Kaa-san is probably spinning in her grave_.'

 _The Akimichi Compound_ ….

Much to the horror of the pleasingly plump Akimichi Clan all of their food had been switched for diet and low fat substitutes. This was a fate worse than death for the clan and they went on the warpath to find who had committed this _atrocity_. They soon found the health food stores had secretly stashed all their _real_ food for things like granola and all hell broke loose. The health food chains suffered the full wrath of the big boned clan and the property damage was astronomical….

 _The Nara Compound_ ….

The Nara's work up and found their home was painted floor to ceiling and wall to wall with abstract art that was so random the Vincent van Gogh would have gotten vertigo looking at it all. They couldn't help themselves but to look for patterns and soon were screaming out running or literally getting sick in the floor just looking at the paintwork. It was horrific and the Clan Head Nara Shikaku did the only thing he could do: He ordered every member of the Nara household out to buy paint and brushes to cover this _abomination_. Unfortunately for the hapless Naras there was already a huge rush on paint. As they came into the village proper they found buildings painted up in zebra stripes, checkers, zigzags, and every other pattern known to man.

Because the Naras habitually slept in they were too late to buy paint due to a massive rush. Worse still; all the paint vendors found their wares were ruined because each can was neatly punctured that cause massive paint spills that would take weeks to clean up. The streets had arrows with wrong directions painted on them and all the regular street signs were painted out. Evidence was everywhere leading to false trails and fistfights between victims and 'culprits' that had nothing to do with the damage. All the paint vendors on the east side of the village organized against all the paint vendors on the west side and a massive rumble broke out in the market place that was quite epic given most of them were really out of shape.

 _The Hyūga Compound_ ….

All the main house members woke up with fake caged bird seals painted on their foreheads that could not be distinguished from the real ones except they didn't work. They were horrified and mortified with shame. Worse still their compound was decorated in nothing but hot pink and pastel green polka dots that made all the buildings in their stately manor look like a joke. Their Clan robes matched the buildings and all of the men's and women's undergarments had been switched leading to the men all being accused of being perverts and being beaten appropriately.

 _The Uchiha District_ ….

Sasuke awoke only to find every door and window in the Uchiha district was missing. All of his clothes were gone (even those he went to bed in!) and everything was coated in itching powder. Even the sheets and drapes were gone. His chakra was disrupted by a tiny seal (of unknown origin) so he couldn't use a henge. If his fan girls ever found out he'd surely be gang raped….His only choice was to streak through the village and run towards Konoha Hospital and hope he didn't get recognized….

 _The Hokage's Advisors_ ….

The homes of Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and Shimura Danzo all had….plumbing issues. As a matter of fact; their basements were flooded with raw sewage to the degree that it was hard to tell which one held the record for the biggest septic tank in the history of Konoha. Even worse (for Danzo at least) the backflow of sewer kept pumping in and was filling up the secret ROOT ANBU tunnels that were connected to his home. The smell was so atrocious that their homes were uninhabitable for the time being.

The Konoha Hospital was painted in red and white candy stripes and was overloaded with people trying to deal with various ailments of every nature know to man. Konoha was essentially paralyzed top to bottom.

 _ANBU Headquarters_ ….

All the ANBU's masks were switched with hideous clown masks and their uniforms now looked like skin tight spandex superhero outfits. ANBU Commander Dragon (AKA Bozo) ordered a full scale manhunt for the one and only Uzumaki Naruto….More chaos had been unleashed in one day than the entire ' _Three Day War_ ' and it _had_ to be stopped at all costs.

 _The Natsume Clan Home_ ….

Strangely the Natsume home was spared of any damage (maybe because it was on the outskirts of town). The girls all got up early at 6 A.M. for their morning workout with Hanako Obaa-chan when they noticed the festival like fireworks display above Konoha that was now painted to look like a circus. "Oh dear…." said Hinata.

"Obaa-chan, what's going on?" asked Hanabi. The Natsume sisters couldn't see as much without the byakugan but even they could tell mass chaos reigned in the village.

Hanako searched with her byakugan for a few moments and sighed. "I think it's safe to say that the Ninja Academy is closed today so you girls will be staying home. I hope there isn't an invasion. I believe two teenaged civilian girls and a puppy could take Konoha in this state."

 _With Naruto_ ….

An orange blur was running from the ANBU screaming " _Help! Killer Clowns are after me!_ " 'The Prankster King from Hell' led the ANBU all over town on a merry chase for the next few hours as he admired his handiwork….or rather the handiwork of hundreds of shadow clones planting seals all over the village over the last month. He'd accomplished about eighty five percent of what he had planned (he had to move up the schedule because of the advanced Academy classes) but Naruto's general thought was ' _Operation: KARMA –A complete success!_ '

Naruto was soon in ANBU Headquarters where Ibiki (now with red painted skin, a goatee and horns glued on the sides of his head) and Inoichi (with his head shaved completely bald and a turban stuck on his head via a chakra seal) were raking Naruto over the coals. After Naruto 'mistook' the Hokage for the head of the Daimyō's harem he'd been banished down here. Naruto was completely truthful about the whole matter –"I did _nothing_ to the village and I deny all charges! You people _do_ realize I was _sleeping_ last night and even _I'm_ a victim. My apartment building was painted bright orange and has a red flame job. From what I saw running from the Killer Clowns -"

" ** _ANBU agents!_** " roared Ibiki.

"-Killer Clowns that falsely accused me _and_ attacked without provocation;" Naruto continued, "It would have taken an _army_ and _massive_ amounts of planning to pull this _invasion_ off! You're blaming an Academy student?! Give me a break! It's not my fault your security is so lax. If you want to blame someone; blame _yourselves!_ "

Later that evening; Ibiki and Inoichi were talking with the Hokage (all in their attire that wouldn't come off). "We've been trying to crack Uzumaki for fourteen hours straight and he hasn't given in an inch." said a tired Ibiki. "-And Anko is still laughing at this ridiculous devil costume! There's even a red pitchfork I found in my _secured_ office!"

Hiruzen nodded. ' _I suppose the boy did deserve some payback but_ _ **my god**_ _; he brought Konoha to its knees in one night and we can't prove a thing!_ ' "What are your views on the matter Inoichi?"

Inoichi sighed also. "As hard as it is to believe; all my observations and questions show the boy is telling the _absolute truth_. It isn't like the ' _Three Day War'_ where he worded things in a sly way with double meanings. He said he _didn't do it_ and short of a mind walk which I'm reluctant to do on a minor or with Kyubi in there; I say all evidence is he's innocent of wrongdoing –Although I don't believe it for a second. Truthfully, I think he's some kind of evil, diabolical, mad genius! Look at the way I'm dressed damn it! I'm bald with a turban and have 'mystic eyes' painted on my palms like some damn fortune teller! You do realize the family flower shop's cash register was replaced with a crystal ball and ' _Free Psychic Readings_ ' replaced the ' _Yamanaka Flower Shop_ ' sign. It's even done in the exact same letters and colors. We're never going to get rid of the smell of burning incense in there."

"At least you two don't look like a Geisha Madam that's way past her prime…." said Sarutobi grumpily. Inoichi and Ibiki looked a bit abashed. "Let me talk to Naruto-kun and then we'll release him."

"Are you certain Hokage-sama?" asked Ibiki.

Hiruzen nodded. "Considering how people have spit on the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice and the undeserved persecution that boy has endured I think we _owe_ him this. Besides, if he was anyone but _Kushina's_ son he would have broken by now."

Inoichi went wide eyed. "He's Uzumaki Kushina's son? That means his Father is-"

" _Yes Inoichi_." said Sarutobi cutting him off with hard eyes.

Inoichi was completely baffled, "But that mean's Naruto is _Royalty_. Does he know about any of this?"

Hiruzen sighed. "Naruto knows it _all_. I gave him permission to reveal his Mother but his Father and his Royal heritage are still classified." He turned to Ibiki and said. "You don't know the full story Ibiki; you're a half generation younger. It's classified so _don't ask_." Ibiki nodded in silence.

Inoichi asked, "Then why hasn't he revealed his Mother's identity? Kushina was a legend in her own time (and beat the crap out of me on multiple occasions –I still fear tomatoes!). Is he ashamed of her in some way?"

The Hokage looked into the room where Naruto was strapped down. The boy wasn't going to break so why not just let him go? "I don't know why he hasn't revealed Kushina Inoichi. I know he's very proud to be her son so it makes no sense to me. I'm already on thin enough ice with him so I'm not going to push him to reveal something so personal. I will ask him though. This has gone on long enough gentlemen; let's let Naruto go."

Inoichi and Ibiki followed the Hokage in and undid the straps. "By the decree of Hokage-sama you're free to go Uzumaki." said Ibiki gruffly.

"So you're releasing an innocent person Ibiki-chan? How big hearted of you." said Naruto sarcastically.

Ibiki growled and muttered something like " _little bastard_." under his breath. He caught a death glare from Naruto that would freeze hell and muttered "Sorry."

"I'd like to talk to Naruto-kun alone." said Hiruzen. "I think I can show him the way out of ANBU Headquarters though he probably already knows it." Inoichi and Ibiki excused themselves the Inoichi bowed on the way out which made Naruto raise an eyebrow.

After the others left Naruto said in a jovial tone, "So what's new Sarutobi baa-chan?"

"Must you poor salt on an open wound Naruto-kun?" asked the Hokage.

"Gee, welcome to my world." said Naruto coldly.

Hiruzen winced and then sighed. "I guess I deserved that reply. How do you get this damned geisha makeup off anyway?"

Naruto rested his chin in his hand and looked thoughtful. "Hmmm….How the hell should I know? Try sandpaper. It's not like I did it or anything."

Realizing he was getting nowhere fast, the old man asked, "I was wondering why you hadn't revealed you were Kushina's son Naruto-kun. That could open a lot of doors in our society for you. I know you're proud of her but haven't told anybody without swearing them to secrecy."

"I know who she is and that's all that matters." said Naruto. "My Kaa-san would be ashamed of this village for what it's done to me. Her name is too good for the likes of them."

"She would want you to tell about her if it would help you though." said Hiruzen in a Grandfatherly tone.

"Maybe someday Sarutobi Jiji." said the blonde sounding depressed.

"Fair enough." replied Hiruzen. "Do you want me to announce it publically so the public would have no doubts?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, there's no need to waste words on _them_. I'd rather keep it private."

"Alright then; let's get you out of here Naruto-kun." said the Hokage as he led the young man out. When they got to the surface and out of ANBU Headquarters; Hiruzen asked, "So what do you think of being in the advanced class of genins Naruto-kun? Are you excited? There aren't that many being honored with this chance."

"Somehow I think there is more to it than being _honored_ about it Jiji." said Naruto.

Sarutobi fixed Naruto with a serious gaze. "I see dark times ahead Naruto-kun. I want you and the others to be ready. That's between you and I. Work hard and encourage the others also; understand?

Naruto nodded seriously, "Yes Hokage-Jiji. I'll do my best."

"That's all I can ask for my boy." said Hiruzen with a smile. "You should probably lay low at the Natsume residence over the weekend. You haven't made a lot of friends today." Naruto nodded and took off in an orange blur. The Hokage sighed to himself. ' _I wonder how he pulled that massive prank off. It's frightening but when he puts his mind his mind to it Naruto-kun really is a genius. With tactics like those he'll be an excellent field commander in the future_.'

 **Yamanaka** ** _Psychic Reading_** **/Flower Shop**

Inoichi was quietly talking with his wife Yamanako Ayano. Ayano said excitedly, "You mean he's Uzumaki Kushina-sama's son? That means he's _Uzu Royalty. The boy is a Prince!"_ she practically squealed _._ "Kushina-sama never talked much about it at the Academy when we were kids but it was always obvious she was special."

"Ayano, the fact he's _Royalty_ is classified!" whispered Inoichi.

"But the fact he's Kushina's son isn't?" asked Ayano in full gossip mode (Ino had to get it from somewhere).

Inoichi said, "Honey, Naruto hasn't ever told anybody. I don't think he wants the public to know."

"Well why not?" asked Ayano with a raised eyebrow. "Kushina was a Kage level kunoichi. If I was him I'd be yelling it in the streets! Where's his sense of pride? _Wait!_ That means his Father was-"

" _That's classified too Ayano_." said Inoichi in a deadly serious tone. "If that leaks out our heads will literally roll. Promise me you'll keep it to yourself?"

"Alright; I promise." said Ayano. "You realize it breaks my heart not to spread something _this juicy_ around don't you Inoichi-kun?"

"I shouldn't have mentioned it Ayano. I'm sorry." replied Inoichi.

"It's alright Inoichi-kun." said Ayano as she kissed her husband. Then she thought deviously to herself, ' _There's no reason I can't encourage our little Ino-chan to like him….she doesn't have to know why just yet_.'

 **Upstairs** ….

"…. _You mean he's Uzumaki Kushina-sama's son? That means he's_ **_Uzu Royalty. The boy is a Prince!_** _"_

Yamanaka Ino heard her Mother's voice through the floorboards. ' _Uzumaki Kushina; who's that? Is that the knucklehead's Mother?! He's an Uzu Prince?! Is that possible? I need to call forehead. We need to research this!_ ' If Ino could count on her best friend/worst rival for anything, it was Sakura's incredible brain power. ' _That may be why Maya, Hinata and Emi like him. They probably know due to their connections as nobles. It makes perfect sense!_ '

POSTSCRIPT:

Okay, Operation: KARMA was inspired by an endless amount of fanfics over the years. I couldn't tell you where a lot of the ideas came from but most were influenced by other fics so I want to give credit where it's due. I originally was going to be harder on Sasuke but the point in the pranks was to get back at the adults hatred rather than the fact the Uchiha's a prick. As for Mizuki….well, that's pretty much original. It won't be the last we see of the traitor though.

About Jiraiya: Since he's not around to help Naruto I thought I'd make him a _very_ competent spymaster. That isn't to say he won't be in trouble with Naruto later but he'll be more than just going around being an idiot peeping on girls (not to say he isn't still a super-pervert). We'll also be seeing a different side of Tsunade in the future.

Yes, Ino's Mother (and Ino to a lesser degree) _are_ being opportunistic, hypocritical harpies. That being said we'll see what Ino and Sakura find out next chapter when the advanced genin training begins. See you next chapter. Blue out. 5/23/15


	7. Chapter 7

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE:_

Here we go! This mainly is setup for the upcoming advanced genin classes so no major battles this chapter. Here's chapter 7:

Last time:

 _Inoichi was quietly talking with his wife Yamanako Ayano. Ayano said excitedly, "You mean he's Uzumaki Kushina-sama's son? That means he's_ _Uzu Royalty. The boy is a Prince!_ _" she practically squealed. "Kushina-sama never talked much about it at the Academy when we were kids but it was always obvious she was special."_

 _"Ayano, the fact he's_ _Royalty_ _is classified!" whispered Inoichi._

 _"But the fact he's Kushina's son isn't?" asked Ayano in full gossip mode (Ino had to get it from somewhere)._

 _Inoichi said, "Honey, Naruto hasn't ever told anybody. I don't think he wants the public to know."_

 _"Well why not?" asked Ayano with a raised eyebrow. "Kushina was a Kage level kunoichi. If I was him I'd be yelling it in the streets! Where's his sense of pride?_ _Wait!_ _That means his Father was-"_

 _"_ _That's classified too Ayano_ _." said Inoichi in a deadly serious tone. "If that leaks out our heads will literally roll. Promise me you'll keep it to yourself?"_

 _"Alright; I promise." said Ayano. "You realize it breaks my heart not to spread something_ _this juicy_ _around don't you Inoichi-kun?"_

 _"I shouldn't have mentioned it Ayano. I'm sorry." replied Inoichi._

 _"It's alright Inoichi-kun." said Ayano as she kissed her husband. Then she thought deviously to herself, '_ _There's no reason I can't encourage our little Ino-chan to like him….she doesn't have to know why just yet_ _.'_

 ** _Upstairs_** _…._

 _"…._ _You mean he's Uzumaki Kushina-sama's son? That means he's_ _ **Uzu Royalty. The boy is a Prince!**_ _"_

 _Yamanaka Ino heard her Mother's voice through the floorboards. '_ _Uzumaki Kushina; who's that? Is that the knucklehead's Mother?! He's an Uzu Prince?! Is that possible? I need to call forehead. We need to research this!_ _' If Ino could count on her best friend/worst rival for anything, it was Sakura's incredible brain power. '_ _That may be why Maya, Hinata and Emi like him. They probably know due to their connections as nobles. It makes perfect sense!_ _'_

 **Chapter 7**

 **Konoha, The Haruno Residence**

 _It was a beautiful Saturday Morning in Konoha's citizens were happily frolicking in the streets_ ….Actually, Konoha was crawling from the physical, financial and metaphorical wreckage of Operation: KARMA and many people were weeping openly in the streets at the sheer embarrassment of what had happened the day before….and Uzumaki Naruto was exonerated of all blame on the grounds that only an _army of terrorists_ could do this much damage in one night. The Haruno family had mercifully been spared any collateral damage and was taking the weekend off to relax (read: hide indoors where it was safe).

It was to this quaint household that one Yamanako Ino paid a visit to. Haruno Mebuki answered the door prepared to blast another neighbor looking for handouts or free labor when she saw Ino. "Good morning Ino-chan, what brings you by?"

"Hi Mrs. Haruno; I was wondering if Sakura-chan was home. I wanted to pay her a visit about our new classes and stuff." said Ino innocently enough.

"Come on in Ino-chan. I'll call Sakura-chan down." said Mebuki.

Sakura soon came downstairs to see her best friend/worst enemy. "Ino-chan, what brings you by? Did the Flower Shop get hit?"

Ino sighed. "Yes but it could have been much worse. Daddy's _really_ not too happy right now and I wanted to talk to you anyway so I came over to see you right after breakfast. Are you busy today?"

"No, with everything that went down yesterday I figured I'd stay indoors with Mom and Dad." said the rosette. "Let go up to my room." Once the girls got upstairs behind Sakura's closed door they dropped all pretenses as Sakura sat down at her desk and Ino sat on the bed. "So what's your _real_ reason for coming by Ino-pig?" asked Sakura.

Seeing no reason to lie Ino said, "Well forehead, I have three reasons. The first is to get out of cleaning the incense smell at the shop since it was giving me an awful headache. The second reason is I want your opinion on these advanced genin classes."

"And the third reason…?" asked Sakura

"It's the most important." said Ino conspiratorially. "I overheard my Mom and Dad talking last night about a kunoichi they went to the Academy with named Uzumaki Kushina. Mom said she was Uzu Royalty and I think she's Naruto's Mom. Have you ever heard of her?"

"Naruto's Mom….royalty?" asked Sakura in disbelief. "Did you get hit in the head pig? It sounds like your tiny mind is all jumbled up."

Ino growled. "I'm not sure if _I_ believe it forehead. That's why I came over here to use that super sized brain of yours to figure it out."

"Well, we could go to the library and look through the Academy graduates yearbooks of your parent's year. If we find something we could look into clan history books. I know your Mom quit before she made chunin. Was she in the same class as your Dad?"

Ino nodded. "I knew you'd have some good ideas billboard brow. Let's head to the library."

"Right porker; I'll get my stuff on and we'll go." answered Sakura.

 **Natsume Clan Residence**

Naruto was sitting and talking with Hinata and Maya as they all looked over the scrolls they had received from the Academy this morning. Maya was reading aloud. "Turn in the attached equipment requisition form at the ANBU Armory to receive your new uniforms and weapons for the advanced genin course. You are to report to room 301 in your new uniforms and are expected to wear them at all times during the course of your training. Personal weapons such as swords, bo staffs, et cetera are to be carried with you at all times as you will be receiving training in them as well during your advanced courses. Know that all of your new equipment is combat grade and you are expected to care and clean it regularly. If you lose or damage a piece of equipment beyond repair you will be billed for its replacement. Requisition forms are to be turned in no later than 12 P.M. Sunday at the ANBU Armory so appropriate fittings can be made."

"Well, they are certainly handling things differently if we have uniforms we have to wear." said Hinata. "Do you know where the ANBU Armory is Naruto-kun?"

Naruto smiled. "Of course I do Hinata-chan. I know this village like the back of my hand."

"Are you going to carry your family swords Naruto-kun?" asked Maya. "The Shippuuhime and Kurimuzo-kougou would give away your identity if there's someone who knows sword heraldry. Then again, so will the Reiki in my case."

Hanako came in and said, "Yes, you will be carrying your family blades. You will as will Hinata-chan."

"I have family blades Obaa-chan?" asked Hinata in surprise.

"Yes you do; they are the blades I carried as an active duty kunoichi long ago, the Hakutsume blades."

"The White Talons?" asked Maya. "I've heard of those somewhere…."

"I used them in the Second Shinobi War." said Hanako as she handed the box with the Hakutsume blades in it to her granddaughter.

Hinata gently opened the box and saw a pair of sheathed kodachis. The sheaths were matte black in finish and featureless –perfect for stealth. "Pull them out Hinata-chan." said Hanako with eagerness in her voice. "I've been training you to use twin kodachi's specifically so you could use these Talons to protect yourself and others you love."

Hinata gingerly picked up one of the blades and unsheathed it. It was pure white with decorative engravings on it. It almost looked like it was ceramic rather than metal. Hinata's eyes widened as she looked at the blade with her byakugan in wonder. "This is chakra metal Obaa-chan! I can see my chakra channeling through it with the slightest touch. This must be worth a fortune!" Hinata put the blade away and pulled out the other which matched the first one perfectly.

Seeing her eldest granddaughter's dazzled look; Hanako smiled and knew she'd made the right choice. "They are attuned to be used specifically with the juken style Hinata-chan. If you channel a juken strike through them they extend with edges like chakra scalpels and their cutting power becomes exponentially greater. They are yours now Hinata-chan. Take good care of them and I promise they will take good care of you."

"But I'm just a beginner Obaa-chan; surely I'm not worthy of your swords." said Hinata.

Hanako smiled again and said, "When I'm finished training you little one; those swords will simply be an extension of yourself. The juken you are learning is designed to work in concert with those very swords. Never doubt you are worthy of them."

"They are beautiful Hinata-chan." said Maya excitedly. "You're going to be elegant and deadly with those blades."

Naruto nodded. "Maya-chan is right. You're going to be awesome! Even better we each have our families' blades with us; we're going to be the best!"

Hinata smiled gratefully at her friend's faith in her and turned to her Grandmother. "Then I will humbly accept the Hakutsume blades and work to become a worthy wielder of them."

Hanako kissed her granddaughters forehead and said, "Someday you will be a master of the Hakutsume blades; I promise you." Wiping a bit of moisture from her eye she said, "Let's get you all equipped with your swords and on your way to the armory. The sooner you get your new equipment the better."

 **Konaha Public Library**

When Ino and Sakara came around the corner they saw the library (a round building) was decorated like a giant birthday cake. It was painted white and the top and bottom edges were trimmed with red 'frosting.' Sakura was appalled but Ino started giggling. "It's actually kind of clever. The piping sticking up on the roof is even painted like candles." As disgusted as she was, Sakura had to agree that the play on the building's shape _was_ rather witty. That was until they got around to the from entrance where instead of the 'Konoha Public Library' sign it had written in oversized letters of red 'frosting' the words 'EAT ME.'

The two girls stood there staring in shock watching as several children asked their Mothers what the significance of 'EAT ME' was with mixed and embarrassing results. Finally Ino could take no more and exploded into laughter. "Oh my god; that's terrible! It's scandalous! It's absolutely hysterical!" she said between guffaws. Sakura was just shaking her head in offense at the tastelessness of it all.

Since everyone was staring at Ino; Sakura grabbed her friend and said, "Come _on_ piggy! We have _work_ to do." Going inside they found the building was undamaged and nothing was amiss inside (although the librarian was glaring at the still snickering Ino). Sakura led Ino over into the restricted ninja section that Academy students had access to. Showing their Academy ID's the pair went back to the yearbooks from the Third Shinobi War and started skimming through them. They soon found the year that Ino's parents were in. "Is that your Dad?" asked Sakura pointing at the picture. "He looks like such a baby!" she giggled. "Of course they did graduate earlier at the time because of the war and all."

Ino chuckled too. "Yep that's him, Choza and Shikaku; the original Ino-Shika-Cho trio. "There's my Mom. She looks so tomboyish."

"Given how elegant your Mom is now I can't imagine her dressed like that." said Sakura smirking.

"Now _there_ is a cute boy." said Ino pointing out a blonde. "I but he grew up to be a hunk later."

Sakura sighed, "Not that I don't agree with you but that's our Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato!"

The two girls continued to look over the class picture and then saw the pictures of the individual graduates. "Uchiha Mikoto….she looks so much like Sasuke-kun!" said Ino.

"That's Sasuke's Mother Ino-pig! Haven't you ever researched his family?" asked Sakura incredulously.

"I guess I'm just not as good at stalking as you forehead." sneered Ino as she turned the page. "Uzumaki Kushina…." They saw a pretty redhead sporting a toothy grin. "Her smile and around her eyes….I can see it in her face Sakura. This could be Naruto's Mom!"

"Shame her son turned out to be such a degenerate." said Sakura. "Of course he is an orphan so I guess he's not entirely to blame….She's so pretty. I'd never have imagined his Mom would be so cute." That's when they found all the proof they needed to prove this was indeed Naruto's Mother. Kushina was subtly giving the camera _the finger_. "Oh. My. God. All doubts that this redhead is Naruto's Kaa-san have been wiped from my mind Ino-pig." Sakura said shaking her head.

Ino snickered. "Yeah, there's no refuting _this_ evidence. What do you think happened to her?"

Sakura said thoughtfully, "I heard at some point Naruto was an orphan because of the Kyubi attack. I'm guessing she died then. It's sad really."

"Do you think Naruto knows any of this?" asked Ino.

"I don't know but I really doubt it." replied Sakura. "He's always claimed he never knew who his parents were…."

 **With Naruto, Maya and Hinata** ….

They were on their way into town and headed towards the armory when they saw Isuzu Emi wandering around the area aimlessly. She was obviously lost. She saw them and trotted over with relief etched on her features. "Naruto-kun, Maya, Hinata; are you headed to the Armory?"

"Yes we are Emi." answered Maya. "Are you lost 'cause you sure look that way?"

Emi nodded embarrassed. "My cousin and Shikamaru were supposed to come down here with me but they went over to the Nara ranch and haven't come back. I figured I'd be retirement age before they came back so I came down here myself but I don't know the exact location of the place."

"I didn't know you had cousins here in Konoha Emi-san." said Hinata politely.

Emi got a rather dour look on her face and said. "My Grandmother is an Akimichi. When she retired she hooked up with Granddad because he ' _likes fat chicks_ ' in his own words. Choji is a second or third cousin of mine and I live in the Akimichi Clan Compound." She shook her head. "When Uncle Choza found nothing but granola bars back in the meat lockers yesterday he went berserk. He had a craving for bacon and boy did things go downhill from there. By noon we all thought we were going to die of starvation. We even had to ration out the ice cream at one gallon each for lunch. It was _famine_ I tell you! Anyway, Choji and I had chocolate and-"

' _So that's how she eats those super sized bentos for lunch….how come she's not huge?_ ' thought the other three as Emi rambled.

"-Anyway, I ate nearly a whole brisket for dinner last night. After that we all agreed to tighten security around our food supply." finished Emi.

' _She has a figure on par with Hinata and I yet she eats that much?_ ' thought Maya in shock.

Hinata thought, ' _Oh, dear. Treating Emi to lunch could put someone into bankruptcy_ ….'

'…. _All this talk about food is making me hungry_.' thought Naruto.

"Well, Naruto-kun knows where the armory is Emi." said Maya. "Why don't you come with us since Hinata-chan and I don't know where it is either."

"Great!" chirped Emi happily. "I wonder what kind of uniforms we'll have and what colors are available."

"If it's from the ANBU Armory it will probably look like ANBU Uniforms." said Naruto. "….With no orange." he added sadly.

 **Konoha Public Library**

"Here's an Alumni book of Daddy's class." said Ino excitedly. "It looks like it commemorates the end of the Third Shinobi War."

Ino and Sakura looked at the Class picture and saw how few of them there were left. "It looks like so many of them died…." said Sakura sadly.

Ino nodded. "Daddy never talks much about it but he told me he lost a lot of friends during the war. Mom quit when she was a genin because her team was wiped out. She still never has told me what happened and Daddy told me not to ask." Turning the pages they found the now adult members of the class looking like seasoned ninjas. "These pictures are a lot more informal. It looks like they were taken at the Akimichi Barbeque Restaurant."

They thumbed through several pictures that showed friends drinking or posing together with their autographs below the photos. "Namikaze Minato –The Yellow Flash. He sure looks heroic. No wonder he became our Hokage." said Ino as Sakura nodded in agreement. "There's Nara Yoshino and Shikaku together. I guess they were already a couple then. –And there's the Ino-Shika-Cho trio again. It looks like they were all chunins or maybe jonins; I can't tell. They all look a little tipsy too."

"There's Naruto's Mom and Sasuke's Mom together. They're both so beautiful!" said Sakura. "Uchiha Mikoto and Uzumaki Kushina –The Red Hot Habenero." The two women were arm in arm and each had their hands up in a 'V' sign. Mikoto looked reserved but highly amused and Kushina had a big smile and looked like she was bursting with energy. "I'm guessing Naruto got his hyper activeness from her. You can almost _see_ the energy radiating from her in the picture." Sakura giggled.

"Do you think we should tell Naruto or bring him to the library and surprise him?" asked Ino.

The rosette raised an eyebrow. "I don't know Ino; if the two of us were to invite him out to the library people might think we want to _date_ him or something."

"So?" asked Ino.

Sakura frowned. "So? Well, aside of the fact we both like _Sasuke-kun_ there's the fact that Maya and Hinata might _murder_ us. It's not like they haven't shown their fangs before. –Did that ever occur to you pig? For all that matter if we just came up out of the blue and said, ' _By the way, we found out who your Kaa-san is_.' he might think it's some kind of cruel joke since he's an orphan and that would be absolutely awful."

"I guess you have a point billboard brow." said Ino. "I didn't think about that. He may be a knucklehead at times but I really wouldn't want to hurt his feelings like that."

Sakura looked at her best friend/worst rival suspiciously. "You know, if I didn't know better I'd say you actually _like_ Uzumaki Naruto. What's the deal porker?"

Ino looked away with a light dusting on her cheeks. "It's not that I _like_ him; I'm just really curious you know? When I overheard Mom say his Kaa-san was a _princess_ it is hard _not_ to be curious."

"Last I checked princesses don't give cameras _the finger_ Ino." said Sakura.

"Stop being so stuffy!" said Ino forcefully. "At _least_ we're ninety nine percent positive that is his Mom just because she flipped off the camera. Since we can't take stuff out of the ninja section let's look up the Uzumaki Clan and see what we can find."

Sakura nodded and the twosome went over to the clan histories to continue their research….

 **Hokage Tower**

Sarutobi Hiruzen was standing in front of his ANBU. "As you all know, you are the most trusted group of all my ninjas. We believe a war is coming." The ANBU all suddenly paused but remained silent. "You all know that several programs have been instituted to beef up our defenses. This recent prank by Uzumaki Naruto only proves that we aren't ready for an invasion." All the Anbu hung their heads in shame. "I have decided to institute a new policy. As you all know, the entire ANBU Corps had to be humiliated as clowns for the past twenty for hours until the seals came off." All present groaned in misery. "Do not feel ashamed, I too was forced to wear…. _inappropriate_ clothing due to my own inattentiveness."

Shimura Danzo walked out to the podium and stood at Hiruzen's side and the Hokage continued. "Also as you know, there has long existed a ROOT ANBU force under Shimura Danzo. There is undeniable proof now as they all have been brought to light so to speak. I'll let Danzo explain the situation."

Danzo looked at the ANBU and could feel the distrust and the tension in the air. "I know many of you do not trust me and with good reason. The Hokage and I have been rivals since the time of the Second Shinobi War. I even tried to overthrow Hiruzen in an assassination attempt that failed and yet he decided to spare me." There was a slight murmur in the air. "I want to talk about young Uzumaki's prank that paralyzed Konoha completely for a good twenty-four hours. ROOT was also shut completely down and though I am embarrassed to admit it; we were completely at Uzumaki's mercy. We strongly believe that Uzumaki used seals to cause all the chaos he did though we have no way to prove it. What if the boy had truly evil intent towards the village? What if he'd used seals meant for demolition instead of mere pranks? Let's give credit where it is due; through sheer cunning and brilliant execution Uzumaki Naruto could have leveled a good three fourths of Konoha and not one of us would have had the power to stop him."

"What happened to stop the ROOT ANBU's activities advisor Shimura?" asked ANBU Dragon.

Danzo said with a completely straight face, "While all of you were running around in assorted clown makeup ROOT was being progressively flooded out of the tunnels below Konoha by masses of raw sewage. ROOT is essentially homeless for now so I asked the Hokage for a compromise. There is no way to deny or even cover up their existence so ROOT will be integrated into the main Konoha Ninja Corps and in exchange they will be exonerated of blame for any unrecorded actions while under my command. Konoha needs military might for the upcoming conflict and this will help tremendously because everyone will be working in concert."

"Danzo will no longer be in command of ROOT and will be keeping his position as chief military advisor in exchange." said Sarutobi. "This has all been decided and I'm relying on all of you to help integrate former ROOT agents into both ANBU and the regular shinobi forces. Here is how this will take place: Our first goal is a disinformation campaign towards the public. This recent prank was done by an ' _enemy army'_ and ROOT will play that role. ANBU will be ' _defeating_ ' them and they will be ' _jailed_ ' and consequently will vanish. Consider all of this full contact sparring. We will use this as an excuse to up our training and military budget with the public's approval. They are questioning our abilities as leaders and soldiers currently and this will quash that notion that we cannot lead and protect them. I'm ' _promoting_ ' Danzo to a more public position as part of this disinformation campaign.

ANBU Dragon spoke again. "Hokage-sama, do you think the public will buy it? It seems too convenient just to get Uzumaki off the hook."

"The citizens of Konoha will buy it." said Danzo. "They have grown complacent in these peaceful times and like sheep they can be herded in the direction we desire. We won't even provide a public a real reason as to why this 'enemy army' did what they did. We'll just _suggest_ the pranks were a preemptive strike. The people can figure out whatever reason that suits their personal tastes after that."

Hiruzen nodded. "We are ninjas and we have to take opportunities when they come. The public is clamoring for justice and we will strike when the iron is hot and deliver it to them. It sounds very simplistic to us as ninjas but the public will not question it. This operation will commence first thing tonight at midnight when ROOT will attempt to strike again. They will be easily identified by their masks which will have a red cross symbol painted across them. You assignments have already been chosen to match your opponents. Use flashy jutsus but keep collateral damage to a minimum. We want this to appear to be a pitched battle in the middle of the night and want to show off a bit of our might. When the so called battle is over tomorrow morning we will claim a hard fought victory but we will need to be better prepared in the future. Nice and simple…."

 **ANBU Armory**

"Sure kids, you can have any color you want as long as it's black." said the grey haired, squared jawed ANBU agent behind the counter with a big obnoxious smile written on his face. "I'm afraid you're in for a large dose of reality. Combat uniforms are about form and function. Fashion is rarely factored in. Mura is our seamstress; she'll get you fitted out. Once she has your uniforms I'll issue you with your new weapons. I'm Taro by the way. You'll probably be seeing me regularly to get your weapons and armor checked. If you'll hand over your swords I'll approve them." Seeing their bodies go ridged and the looks of utter contempt etched on their faces he said, "Of course you'll be present when I check them over. I won't touch them without permission."

A short, stocky young woman with her black hair in a bun opened the side door and said. "I'm Mura. You first blondie; fitting girl's uniforms takes longer." After leading him through a set of double sealed doors she said reading off the list, "So you're the infamous Uzumaki Naruto. Set your weapons on the table there and strip to your underwear so I can take you measurements and fit you out."

Naruto blushed slightly and did as he was told. When he was stripped down she whipped out a measuring tape and moved him around in whatever position she needed to take measurements. She wasn't gentle at all and other than giving curt directions on what she wanted him to do she was silent. She vanished into the back and soon came out with mesh armor. She also handed him some protective underwear. "Lose the boxers and put these on first. I'll check the fit and then we'll put on the mesh."

Naruto asked nervously, "C-can you turn around so I can change?"

Mura answered with, "No, I can't. Hop to it!"

Three pairs of underwear later she was griping about him having 'unbelievably massive chakra reserves' and he was blushing up a storm. "There, finally." said Mura. "It needs to be snug but not too snug or it will damage the goods. Put on the mesh top while I go get you a different set of pants that are looser in the crotch." It wasn't long before Naruto was wearing mesh armor with black standard ANBU clothing. He had a black armored flak jacket, fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back and black ninja sandals. He also had a black cloak for weather protection. "This is your standard uniform Uzumaki." said Mura. You'll get six more sets of clothes and you can add options like cutouts and additional armor like greaves if you want later. Taro will get you new holsters for your kunai, shuriken and whatnot."

She quickly loaded the extra clothing on the table along with a small backpack. "Down you want a bag for all that stuff? It's not like I'm going to deliver it to your address." Naruto shook his head no and unsealed his sealing supplies. Soon the massive pile of stuff was all neatly put away in a scroll. It didn't escape Mura's eye that he created a specific sealing scroll _on the spot_. The ANBU seal masters they had weren't _that_ fast. As he strapped on his katana and wakizashi she said. "One last thing Uzumaki. Practice sliding into and out of you new gear and break it in a bit. Sometimes you need to change quickly on a mission….On a personal note I don't see why the hell you wore that orange _tent_. This uniform shows off your body much better and you look quite fetching if I say so myself. You're done."

Mura led him out and pointed at Hinata. "You next Hyūga; move it." Hinata quickly jumped to her feet and followed Mura in.

' _I wanted to admire Naruto-kun, damn it!_ ' thought the Hyūga Heiress. She'd only caught a glance but she _liked_ what she saw….

Naruto was back out in front of Taro. "I'll be damned Uzumaki! You actually could pass off for a real ninja now. Let's see those swords of yours and then I'll get you your new kunai and shuriken."

Naruto set his katana and wakazashi gently on the Counter and handed Taro an envelope with the Hokage's seal on it. Taro raised an eyebrow but opened the envelope and read the contents which revealed they were the Shppuuhime and the Kurimuzo-kougou and they did indeed belong to Uzumaki Naruto. It also listed the consequences of what would happen if Taro (or anyone else) if they revealed the identity of the last Royal Uzumaki. Taro looked up into Naruto's eyes and saw a cold blue flame that made him gasp at the sheer intensity.

Nodding and destroying the note with a small fire jutsu he carefully inspected both weapons. He had no idea what they were made of but the balance and sharpness was perfect. He quickly put the swords back in their sheaths and said. You have been blessed with some truly superb blades Uzumaki-san. Let me get you the kunai and other equipment you need…."

Both Maya and Emi were admiring Naruto in his skin tight new combat gear. Emi had a slight nosebleed. ' _I knew he was powerful and probably had a good body but kami he looks good enough to eat. Look at all that lean muscle! There's not a bit of wasted fat on there and it_ _ **ripples**_ _under that mesh_ '….She licked her lips hungrily as she admired him while he strapped on all his new weaponry. ' _A little more to the left! Oh, that's it Naruto-kun!_ '

Maya was enjoying the view as well but she already _knew_ Naruto had a good body under that jumpsuit. Still, _knowing_ and _seeing_ it on display for her to admire were to different things. "That looks _really_ good on you Naruto-kun! I know it isn't orange but it looks great! ' _Yes, Maya-chan approves! I_ _ **really**_ _need him to move in with us for good. I'd_ _ **love**_ _to see that every morning when I get up_.'

 **Konaha Public Library**

Ino was at her wit's end. They hadn't found much on the Uzumakis other than they were from the Land of Whirlpools and they were so feared for their skills with fuinjutsu that other nations banded together to destroy them. There were no books specifically on Uzu and all the references the two girls located were just in general clan encyclopedias that had a short paragraph on every clan in the elemental nations without any specific details. Unlike Ino (who was ready to pull her ponytail out by the roots after three hours) Sakura was still going full steam.

Setting down her pile of books the rosette went over to the chunin on duty that watched over the restricted section. "Excuse me but I'm looking for books on the Uzumaki Clan and there don't seem to be any on the shelf. I know they were associated with Fire Country so I can't imagine the library wouldn't have something."

The chunin turned from reading the paper and regarded Sakura for a minute. He said in a bored tone, "Those books are in the chunin and jonin sections and aren't available to Academy students young lady."

"But why? If it's just an extinct country's history…." asked Sakura.

"It was a choice made over a decade ago before I was in this position." said the chunin. "The decision was made by the Hokage and his advisors. If you need to know something that badly either ask your Academy instructor or complain to the Hokage himself." The chunin then turned back to his newspaper.

 **Hokage Tower**

"Now that we all understand our new situation I want to discuss the very real possibility of an upcoming war." A screen lowered showing a map of the Elemental Countries. "This is what we know; a new ninja Village called Oto has been formed in the Land of Rice to the north of Fire Country. Their leader is none other than my traitorous student Orochimaru."

A large murmur swept through the ANBU but Sarutobi motioned for silence. "We know they are building up an army and are mobilizing for war. They should be fully mobilized in eight months when we have our Chunin Exams. We also know that our allies in Suna are mobilizing on the same timetable. Our information network has concluded that the two countries have been in close contact with each other for about a year now. We have come to the conclusion that both countries are intending to invade while we are holding the Chunin Exams. One or the other we could deal with but their combined forces are a serious threat to our village. We need to be prepared and many new programs are going to be instituted starting with the integration of ROOT…."

 **ANBU Armory**

It had been two hours since the group of four arrived and Naruto was doing his best to hide the fact he had a _major_ erection for Hinata-chan and then Maya-chan in their new form fitting uniforms. They were waiting for Emi and Naruto had taken note that Taro held the Reiki in great reverence but when he saw the Hakutsume blades he seemed somewhere between awestruck and frightened. When he returned the blades to Hinata he said, "I look forward to seeing you handle those in the future." and left it at that. For now the three very aroused teenagers were just sitting and waiting on the last member of their group.

While Naruto was fantasizing about peeling off the tight; _tight_ flak jackets the girls were wearing Emi was in the back with Mura who seemed to be fuming as she was taking Emi's measurements. Emi was being quiet as Mura muttered quietly to herself, " _Grumble grumble….Goddamned early bloomers with huge chakra reserves and equally huge racks….grumble grumble….They must choose kunoichis by cup size these days. Three in a fucking row….god damn I feel so cheated….grumble grumble….And their bodies are all perfect too! If I had a body like_ _ **any**_ _of these girls I'd have men begging to lick my feet! ...grumble grumble….So unfair. So goddamned unfair_ ….'

Soon Emi was outfitted as the other girls were and was getting her pair of dueling kunai checked over by Taro who quickly approved of her weapons. They were of exceptionally high quality but given the Isuzu family resources it was no mystery as to how she could afford them. Once she got her new kunai and shuriken she made sure to give Naruto a _very_ good view of her new uniform. Emi never considered black her color but she figured she could make this work. Having all three girls there looking like kunoichi fantasy mates was almost too much to handle for Naruto. He feared his hormones were going to get the better of him so he hopped up and led the girls out hoping he wouldn't get any harder (it was rather painful at this point).

Taro watched as the group left and saw Mura standing there looking after them as well. "I have to say that kunoichis sure do _develop_ young these days. I see a _bright_ future for Konoha." he added lecherously. Mura didn't say anything but gave him a roundhouse kick to the head that caused him to land in a heap on the other side of the counter.

"Pervert…." growled Mura as she headed to the back.

 **Hokage Tower**

The Anbu were dismissed to perform their normal duties and to meet their new members from ROOT. All of them had mixed feelings but it was the Hokage's decree and they would carry it out. As they filed out Sarutobi called out to ANBU Cat and asked her to stay behind. Danzo excused himself leaving Cat alone with the Hokage. "You may remove your mask Uzuki Yūgao." said Hiruzen kindly.

"How may I serve you sir?" asked Yūgao (age 22) as she removed he Cat mask revealing her pretty face.

Hiruzen smiled. "Actually, I have a temporary job offer for you Yūgao."

She raised a delicate eyebrow. "A temporary job offer? What do you mean sir?"

"One of the programs we mentioned was our advanced genin program." said Hiruzen. "I need a tough, young and very competent shinobi to teach it and I believe you are that person. You were inducted into the ranks of ANBU before you were of graduation age. I believe your example could inspire them to do well."

Yūgao looked a bit confused and said, "May I see the curriculum Hokage-sama?" Hiruzen handed it over to her without flourish. After reading it over she said, "This looks like the training we received when we entered ANBU sir, although it has more specialization like kenjutsu and fuinjutsu. Are we training future ANBU here?"

Hiruzen nodded. "That is _exactly_ what we are doing Yūgao. Since you have previous experience breaking in new ANBU troops I felt you would be ideal for this job. You'd have regular hours as an Academy instructor but you would be receiving regular A-ranked pay the next two months for putting up with a bunch of brats. I also know Uzumaki Naruto respects you since his _Cat nee-chan_ was the _only_ ANBU that didn't end up dressed as a clown. He's the only one you are permitted to tell you ANBU identity to."

"It sounds like I'm going to have to throw Naruto-kun and the others through the meat grinder." said Yūgao. "I'll have to draw up a schedule and disguise it as an extra hard Academy courses since we can't use the ANBU barracks."

"Then I can count on you with this task Yūgao?" asked the Hokage.

"Leave it to me sir; I'll whip the brats into shape." said the purple haired kunoichi with a grin.

"That's what I wanted to hear _Instructor_ Uzuki Yūgao. Feel free to wear your ANBU gear minus the mask of course."

"Yes, sir!" answered Yūgao.

POSTSCRIPT:

Next chapter Naruto's class enters boot camp from hell and a group of evil masked terrorists will be defeated by the heroic ANBU. The question is; will Yūgao survive teaching Academy students? She can breeze through S-ranked assassination missions but this may be her toughest assignment yet.

As a second note the updates are going to slow way down soon. I have three other main stories and this one has monopolized my time lately. Blue out. 5/25/15


	8. Chapter 8

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well, this chapter was unplanned. I was taking a break in between writing chapters of my other stories and this hit me out of the blue. Special shout out to **FlameDragon14** for inspiring the ' _true love's first kiss scene_.' Here's chapter 8:

Last time:

 _"….Are we training future ANBU here?"_

 _Hiruzen nodded. "That is exactly what we are doing Yūgao. Since you have previous experience breaking in new ANBU troops I felt you would be ideal for this job. You'd have regular hours as an Academy instructor but you would be receiving regular A-ranked pay the next two months for putting up with a bunch of brats. I also know Uzumaki Naruto respects you since his Cat nee-chan was the only ANBU that didn't end up dressed as a clown. He's the only one you are permitted to tell you ANBU identity to."_

 _"It sounds like I'm going to have to throw Naruto-kun and the others through the meat grinder." said Yūgao. "I'll have to draw up a schedule and disguise it as an extra hard Academy courses since we can't use the ANBU barracks."_

 _"Then I can count on you with this task Yūgao?" asked the Hokage._

 _"Leave it to me sir; I'll whip the brats into shape." said the purple haired kunoichi with a grin._

 _"That's what I wanted to hear Instructor Uzuki Yūgao. Feel free to wear your ANBU gear minus the mask of course."_

 _"Yes, sir!" answered Yūgao._

 **Chapter 8**

 **Fire Country, the Village Of Dokoni mo**

Deep in the remote forests of Fire Country was a small village called Dokoni mo. Into this small village walked the massive form of Enma, the Monkey King and long time friend and personal summons of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage. Time and again Hiruzen had asked his loyal brat Jiraiya to find his other (semi) loyal brat Tsunade and yet the kunoichi always managed to give Jiraiya the slip (or so he claimed). At any rate; after months of various monkey summons scouring the Elemental Nations the trail led here to Dokoni mo. The villagers were afraid of the Monkey King but he explained that he was from Konoha and was here to see Senju Tsunade. After a little intimidation with the locals Enma found out she lived in a three bedroom cottage at the far end of town.

Senju Tsunade (age 51) was around the back of the cottage meditating at a rather large pond when Enma came storming around the cottage and saw the straw blonde woman sitting while facing away from him. Enma growled angrily, "Senju Tsunade; you impertinent little brat! I've come here for Hiruzen to bring you back to Konoha. If you don't come along peacefully I'm going to give you the _spanking of a lifetime_ you so rightly deserve for making me traipse all the way out here to the middle of nowhere!"

Enma saw a flash of Tsunade's angry amber eyes before her voice echoed through the entire village like an angry goddess. " _ **YOU'RE GONNA WHAT?!**_ " After that sounds of a very large monkey shrieking as he was run through a proverbial shredding machine were heard throughout Dokoni mo along with some truly thunderous impacts of human fists pummeling furry flesh. Eventually a badly mauled Enma was punched clean over the cottage to the front and crashed onto his back at the feet of Tsunade's faithful apprentice Shizune (age 28) and a young white haired girl. He groaned in misery as Shizune came into focus along with the girl holding her hand looking at him curiously as if he was road kill or something.

"Oh dear." said Shizune. "Is that you Enma-sama? Did you upset Tsunade-sama?" The black haired woman cringed a bit as the Monkey King groaned pitifully.

The white haired girl used a stick and poked him a couple of times eliciting further groans. She said innocently with big amber eyes. "You upset Kaa-chan didn't you? You made her do _**grievous bodily harm**_ to you for being bad didn't you?"

Tsunade came roaring around the house and said, " _I'm going to send you back to Sarutobi-sensei_ ** _in a box_** _you overgrown, flea bitten_ \- Oh, Mito-chan. Stand back honey. Kaa-chan has to inflict some _**grievous bodily harm**_ to this monkey for his bad behavior."

The now named Mito chirped, "Okay Kaa-chan! Let's get back Shizune nee-chan."

Shizune shook her head, "Shush Mito-chan. This is the Monkey King Enma-sama and he must have been sent here by Hokage-sama on an important mission….please stop poking him with that stick Mito-chan."

Enma quickly rolled to his feet and stared at Mito in shock with a wide eye (the other one was swollen shut). When his good eye focused he saw the little girl looked _just like_ Tsunade when he first met her save the fact her hair was white. She even wore it in the same ponytail Tsunade did as a child! "Y-you're Senju Tsunade's daughter?!"

Then girl giggled and bowed. "I am Senju Mito, I'm nine years old and it's very nice to meet you Enma-sama." Then her face turned to a cute frown and she pointed at him. "Why did you make Kaa-chan angry?" Then she crossed her arms and started tapping her foot the same way Tsunade did when riled.

Enma turned to Tsunade and said accusingly, "You have a daughter?! Does that brat Jiraiya know about this?"

Mito said, "Of course Tou-san knows about me! He comes to see us as much as he can when he isn't on missions."

Enma's good eye got even wider as he felt Tsunade reach up and grab him by the scruff. "If you tell Sarutobi-sensei about this I'll have your head stuffed and mounted on my wall!" she said in a hiss.

"Fine." said Enma. "I will not tell him; _you will!_ -Reverse summoning jutsu!" At that point Sarutobi Hiruzen appeared in a puff of smoke coughing and holding a half spilled cup of tea….

Hiruzen was looking down staring eye to eye with Mito. After a few tense moments and recognizing Tsunade's patented bulging vein on the forehead of Mito he said "….Tsunade-chan?"

Mito pointed behind him and said, "Kaa-chan is behind you old man."

A few moments later Sarutobi's voice was heard ringing throughout Dokoni mo. " _ **WHAAAT?!**_ "

 **Konoha, Hokage's Office**

It was Sunday morning and the Hokage, Danzo, Homura and Koharu had been discussing last night's ' _fearsome battle_ ' between the _Enemy Army_ and the _Heroic ANBU_ when Hiruzen vanished in a puff of smoke. "Was he a shadow clone?" asked Homura.

Koharu shook her head, "No, his teacup he was holding wouldn't have vanished with him. Was he reverse summoned?"

"That's the only logical answer I can think of." said Danzo. "Enma must have taken him to Jiraiya or something. I guess we'll just have to sit back and wait."

 **Natsume Clan Home**

ANBU Cat arrived at the Natsume residence in the morning to pay a visit to a certain village prankster. She wanted to prevent him causing trouble in class and hoped that revealing her identity to him as Uzuki Yūgao would help. She'd worked out some of the class schedules and had a rough idea of what she wanted done to start tomorrow. Yūgao came to knock on the front door and Maya opened it as she arrived. "Hello, ANBU Cat-san, can I help you?"

Cat nodded. "I'm here to see Uzumaki Naruto. Is he around?"

"He's back sparring with Hanako Obaa-chan and the others." answered the brunette. "Just follow me ANBU-san." As Yūgao was led through the Natsume household she found it was a very old fashioned and traditional place but it retained a warmth about it that most traditional homes didn't.

Soon Yūgao heard the sounds of swords clashing and that grabbed her interest. She really wanted to see what was going on since she and her boyfriend Hayate both _loved_ swords. ' _Maybe Hayate-kun could help me teach kenjutsu to the brats. That way we could spend some extra time together._ ' she thought with a small smile behind her mask. When Aya slid the door open she saw both Maya and Naruto in ANBU style gear with their respective blades apparently going for the jugular in a fearsome swordfight. Maya was controlling the flow of the battle through her superior technique with the Reiki but Naruto's power and speed with his two swords were keeping Maya from doing anything decisive. They both sported feral smiles and energy seemed to be crackling in the air around them as their blades impacted again and sparked against one another.

A simple " _Freeze_." was heard but the authority behind it made even Cat stand at attention. Naruto and Maya stood as if paralyzed. Cat looked over and saw Hyūga Hanako sitting in the seiza position. "We have a guest but the two of you were so locked in the heat of battle that you didn't notice." Hanako shook her head. "We will need to continue to work on your situational awareness. Sheathe your blades and bow. This spar is over." Maya and Naruto did as they were told and quickly thanked each other for the spar. Hanako turned to Cat with her byakugan active. "Is there something we can do for you today ANBU Cat-san?"

Cat bowed. "Forgive the interruption Hyūga-san but I need to borrow Uzumaki Naruto in private for a few moments." Yūgao didn't know why she bowed to this older woman but she kind of felt compelled to do so. Her skills as a sensor told her the woman was _far_ more powerful than she let on.

"Go with her Naruto-kun." said Hanako before she added, "-and do _try_ not to get arrested."

"You're so _cruel_ to me Hanako Obaa-chan." whined Naruto as Hanako sent him off with shooing motions and Hanabi and Aya giggled at his expense. Maya and Hinata both smiled. They'd been at it for some time so they were a bit too tired for full blown laughter. Naruto turned to Yūgao and said, "Cat nee-chan; what brings you by?"

"Let's go someplace and talk Naruto-kun." said Cat. "Is there a private area?"

Maya said, "Go to the meditation area Naruto-kun. You won't be disturbed there." Naruto nodded and picked up his water bottle before he led Cat out to a quiet room with sitting cushions.

"So what's up Cat nee-chan? I heard you ANBU caught those _evil pranksters_ that framed me." said Naruto jovially as he sat down.

"Yes, evil pranksters…." she said with a smile in her voice. "I came to talk to you about your advanced classes."

Naruto sagged. "Don't tell me Jiji is _already_ sending you to warn me to behave!"

Cat sat down across from him and laughed. "Actually he did in a way. If you don't give your all in class you're going to be eaten alive. _I'm_ going to be teaching you Naruto-kun so I want you to do your absolute best in class."

Naruto sat in shock. " _You're_ teaching the class nee-chan?"

She nodded. "Yes, and you'll have to address me by my real name." She took her Cat mask off showing her delicate features and smiled at him. "I am Uzuki Yūgao and I'm very happy to meet you face to face Uzumaki Naruto. When we are around others you'll need to call me Yūgao-sensei so my ANBU identity will remain secret understand?"

Nuruto smiled and nodded. "I'm happy to meet you too Yūgao-sensei! I always knew you'd be pretty! Since you're in ANBU are you going to hide your tattoo?"

Yūgao smiled. "No Naruto-kun. I was inducted into ANBU when I was younger than you are now. I'll be displaying my ANBU tattoo so you'll all be inspired to work hard."

Naruto looked thoughtful and said, "Don't be _too_ nice when teaching class or people will try to take advantage of you."

The purple haired woman look surprised at his concern but said, "I'm afraid I _can't_ afford to be too nice Naruto-kun. I've basically been assigned to put you through hell. I know you'll think some of it is unfair but I don't want you to be pranking me or others. This is deadly serious stuff. Everyone in the class can do the Academy three basic jutsus but you since you can't do a clone jutsu so we're going to have to work on that."

Naruto gave her a fox like smile and made a shadow clone appear. "This is our little secret Yūgao-sensei. Hokage-Jiji doesn't need to know I can make shadow clones."

Yugao gasped as she quickly added up all the evidence in her head. "You _really_ didn't pull off that prank; your _clones_ did!"

"I have no idea what prank you are referring to Yūgao-sensei." said Naruto with a completely straight face.

She chuckled, "Well how could you? There were dozens of them!" She paused and said, "Promise me you'll _never_ do that again!"

"Actually, I can't promise to not do something I didn't do." said the blonde. "For what it's worth though I plan to give up pranking once I graduate."

Yūgao let out an audible sigh of relief. "So tell me, when did you get interested in kenjustu? You and Maya-san were really cranking back there. I could see you both had your all thrown into it….and those blades are interesting too."

"Well, I can't tell you all of it because Hokoge-Jiji classified it but I got my swords from Jiji and I've been training with Hanako Obaa-chan ever since. She's a real slave driver and runs me, Hinata-chan and Maya-chan into the ground. It's really showing results though; a month ago all I knew was which end to point at the enemy."

They laughed and talked a while longer before Yūgao warned him to get plenty of sleep and be there in room 301 at 4 A.M. sharp. After that she put her mask back on and departed in a body flicker.

 **ANBU Armory**

Ino, Sakura, Choji and Shikamaru were getting their uniforms. Nara Shikaku escorted the four teens over and dropped them off saying it was ' _too troublesome_ ' to wait on them. "What a drag." said Shikamaru. "Mom dragged me and Dad out of bed early and browbeat Dad into taking us all over here. What a troublesome woman."

"Your Mom is the only person in your family that has _any_ motivation at all Shikamaru!" said Ino loudly. "Your whole clan is just a bunch of lazy bums!"

"So what's your point?" asked the Nara heir. "Stop being so bossy you troublesome blonde."

"What was that?!" yelled Ino.

Mura led Choji out in his new uniform. The chubby boy was a bit flustered at the seamstress's gruff way of handling things. "You, Nara! You're next so move." Mura commanded. Shikamaru grumbled something under his breath about ' _troublesome_ ' as he was hauled back to be fitted out.

Choji turned to the two girls….and looked embarrassed in his black ANBU style gear. "Ummm….I guess this is everyone's gear will look like so we'll all match."

Sakura said, "It looks very….black is very slimming Choji." as she tried to be nice about it.

"We're all going to have to dress the same?" asked Ino in horror. "How are we going to show any individual style at all? Kunoichis are supposed to be sexy aren't they?" She turned to Taro. "Please tell me there's a better, more feminine version Taro-san."

Taro chuckled. "Sorry girl but all the uniforms are the same. They're made out of the same special materials the Akimichi clan uses for their body expansion justus. It's very durable and easy to move in." He turned to the self conscious Choji. "You should be proud kid. Your clan did the Elemental Nations a huge favor when they invented this material. Now let's get you some weaponry."

Seeing that Choji and Taro were tuning her out; Ino turned to her best friend Sakura. "Well, seeing you in an outfit like that isn't going to be pretty forehead." said Ino sarcastically.

"Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about you porker." retorted Sakura with equal sarcasm. "On the positive side we'll be able to admire Sasuke-kun in a skin tight black outfit."

 **Dokoni mo**

Hiruzen was sitting with Tsunade and Mito at the main table inside the cottage while Shizune patched up poor Enma in the front room. The Hokage was trying to wrap his head around the situation. "It seems the impossible has happened…." said Hiruzen.

"I'll admit being forty two is older to have children but it's not _medically_ _impossible_ Sarutobi-sensei!" said Tsunade affronted. "I'm not old damn it!"

"Kaa-chan! No cussing remember?" said Mito indignantly.

"Sorry Mito-chan." said Tsunade as she kissed Mito's forehead. "Why don't you play in your room while Kaa-chan and her _really old_ sensei talk about ninja stuff?"

"Okay; I'll go read some of my medical textbooks." chirped Mito as she took off to her room.

Hiruzen smiled. "She already wants to be a medical nin huh? You must be proud of her."

"Mito-chan is better than I was at her age." said Tsunade proudly. "She's got my chakra control and Jiraiya-kun's chakra reserves. Mito has been fascinated with healing since she was old enough to say the word."

"No doubt having the greatest Medic nin in the world and her apprentice to teach and inspire her has been a great help in developing her skills." said Sarutobi proudly. "When I said impossible earlier it was the idea of you and Jiraiya being a couple Tsunade-chan. I meant no offense."

Tsunade explained, "Jiraiya-kun was injured almost unto death and I nursed him back to health with Shizune's help. I got over my haemophobia to save his life and somehow in the process he rescued me from my self-destructive path. He paid off all my gambling debts and I stopped drinking so heavily. We somehow fell in love and we got married. Then we were blessed with Mito-chan. Jiraiya-kun has kept our location secret so Mito-chan could grow up without being ' _The Senju Heiress_ ' like I was after Nawaki died."

"I'm just so shocked Tsunade." said the Hokage. "You have the happiness in your eyes again that you lost so long ago. I'm truly happy for you. You obviously haven't lost your fighting skills either given the way you thrashed poor Enma….Was that really necessary?"

"He threatened me and I wasn't about to let him take me away from my baby girl." she answered in a cold tone. "He's lucky Mito-chan and Shizune showed up when they did or I'd have made him into a carpet. That aside though, why were you searching for me Sarutobi-sensei?"

Hiruzen sighed. "War is coming Tsunade. The village needs your strength. I've made a truce with Danzo due to this upcoming war but it won't last. I need someone to become the Fifth Hokage and I want that person to be you. You have the pedigree, the background and the education. Jiraiya won't take it and frankly his information network is far too vital for me to keep him in Konoha all the time. I have to take Danzo out of the picture for the good of the village and I need someone I can trust and count on to lead…. _I'm old Tsunade_. While I'd be happy to serve as an advisor I'd step down from the Hokage's seat in a heartbeat if it weren't for the threat of Danzo and his warmongering ways. Recent events brought his ROOT forces out into the open and I made a compromise with him to prevent a civil war. Will you help me Tsunade-chan?"

Tsunade said in a tense and worried tone, "I need a little time to think about it. I don't want it but….Harashima-Jiji and Tobimira-Oji would be spinning in their graves if Danzo took over. I want to talk to Jiraiya-kun. I'll send you a messenger slug in the next couple of weeks. Will that work sensei?"

Hiruzen patted her on the shoulder. "It's better than I expected Tsunade. Talk to Jiraiya, Shizune and little Mito-chan. I think she would make a fine Konoha kunoichi someday. I'll send a monkey summons out in a couple of weeks if I don't hear from you okay?"

"Alright sensei." She hugged the old man. "I'll talk to you soon."

Hiruzen and Enma soon departed after a ' _meeting with his student_ ' and returned to Konoha.

 **Konoha, Natsume Clan Home**

Hanako was running her charges through some cool down exercises before they broke for lunch. She'd dragged them out of bed early at 4 A.M. so they'd be good and tired that evening. Hinata, Maya and Naruto were going to be getting up at 3 A. M. sharp for the next couple of months and Hanako was going to be making sure they were off to a good start. She also informed Naruto that she wasn't going to tolerate him oversleeping so he would have to set up shop at the Natsume home for an extended stay during their advanced genin training.

Naruto simply acquiesced (he'd learned arguing with Hanako Obaa-chan was a losing battle) and Maya and Hinata were particularly pleased. Naruto said if the villagers started bothering them he was moving back out to his apartment though which Hanako and the girls accepted on the surface.

 _'If the villagers start bothering us we'll simply kick them off the Natsume property_.' thought Maya to herself. _'Naruto-kun should live here with us anyway_.'

 _Flashback..._

 _Hanako had called both Maya and Hinata into the study where she was thumbing the huge book of laws from Uzu that Naruto had received. While he had buried himself in the Uzu sealing books his Mother left behind he wasn't too worried about the Uzu clan laws at this point. "Hinata-chan, Maya-chan; I have interesting and perhaps disturbing news. You both know that Naruto-kun is the last of the Royal Uzumaki line. I've been going through the Uzumaki Clan laws and it seemed this happened a couple of times before. As the last male heir Naruto-kun's family practices polygamy to repopulate their royal line."_

 _"P-polygamy?" said Hinata with a blush. "As in more than one wife?"_

 _"Is that even legal?" asked Maya._

 _Hanako nodded. "It is under these clan laws which would be upheld in any court of law in the Elemental Nations. Both of you girls have confided in me your feelings towards Naruto-kun and each other. It's up to you girls but under this set of laws there is no reason you couldn't each be his wife **if** you are willing to share him. Bear in mind he could take other wives as well though so you'll need to think this over and discuss it with each other."_

 _"Has Naruto-kun said anything about it Obaa-chan?" asked Hinata._

 _Maya nodded, "Yes, what did Naruto-kun think of the whole idea?"_

 _"I didn't feel it was necessary to inform Naruto of these laws until you two saw them and made certain of your own feelings." said Hanako in a matter of fact tone._

 _Both girls face faulted. "You're telling_ ** _us_** _but not Naruto-kun?!" both girls shrieked as one._

 _"What he does not know will not hurt him ladies." said Hanako. "You're all still young and I don't want to plant the idea in the mind of a hormonal teenage boy that he needs to sleep with every girl he can find and build a harem." She shook her head. "Naruto-kun is actually a very nice young man despite his rough edges but I don't think he is ready to know these things just yet."_

 _Flashback end..._

 _'Yes, Naruto kun should live here with his_ ** _family_**.' thought Maya. _'He's going to need Hinata-chan and I in his life to make sure he's only with girls that really love him like we do_.'

Hinata was having similar thoughts. _'Once his royal lineage comes out there are going to be all kinds of sycophants and parasites around. By settling here Maya-chan and I can keep Naruto-kun safe from those fan girl leeches_.'

After a quick shower to wash the sweat and grime off everyone was in the kitchen sitting down for lunch. Maya was at the head of the table as head of the Natsume household but she'd grown very close to Hanako over the last few weeks and was glad that her new Obaa-chan was there. Hanako was someone Maya could trust and go to for advice whenever she needed it and having Hinata-chan and Hanabi-chan living there made her feel like the empty old house was full of happiness again. Best of all Naruto-kun was there for now...Maya and Hinata already planned to make that permanent.

"So Naruto-kun, what did ANBU Cat-san say this morning?" ask Hinata. Truthfully all of the girls were curious.

"Cat nee-chan told me to do my best." explained Naruto. "She told me we were really going to go through hel-, er…heck in this advanced genin training course and the I shouldn't misbehave or prank anybody because I needed to put all of my efforts into learning."

Hanako nodded sagely. "It sounds like she gave you excellent advice Naruto-kun. Are you going to follow her instructions? I've been telling you these same things for weeks."

"Yes Hanako Obaa-chan." said the blonde. "I was already planning to give up pranking once I became a genin anyway. I'll just have to start two months early."

Maya smiled. "Try not to antagonize the Uchiha too much. He's had his panties in a twist ever since you started beating him at spars."

"Sorry Maya-chan but he treats everyone like trash because he's a so-called noble." answered Naruto. "It just grates on my nerves that the pampered princess has gotten special treatment for so long."

Hinata giggled. "I think he's going to be treated a little less special in this training course."

"What do you think the training is going to be like nee-chan?" asked Hanabi curiously.

"I don't know Hanabi-chan." said Hinata with a shrug. "But I think that Hanako Obaa-chan's training is going to prove to be tougher. I don't think quitting this course is going to be an option. I hope we all do well."

"You and Maya-chan are going to do great Hinata-chan!" exclaimed Naruto. "We're all going to become genins together; I don't doubt it for a minute...unless there are a lot of written tests...that would really su-" He saw Hanako subtly twirling the _chopsticks of doom_. "I mean it would really be unpleasant having to do a lot of written tests."

Hanako smirked. _'I'll get some manners into you yet child! Bwahahaha!_ ' "I think you'll find this course is going to have a lot more emphasis on the practical than the written Naruto-kun. That's why I've been training you three so much physically as well as mentally. A shinobi needs to have an equally strong body and mind."

"Is that why you've had both Anko-san and Bunshichi-san training Maya-chan and I as well Obaa-chan?" asked Hinata.

"Precisely Hinata-chan." said Hanako with approval in her tone. "All three of you need to learn to face different kinds of opponents and Bunshichi and Anko have presented you all with a wonderful opportunity. I've noticed you've added a couple of Anko's moves into your repertoire Hinata-chan."

Hinata looked frightened for a moment and said. "I'm so sorry Hanako Obaa-chan. I will stop and only use the new juken you've taught me."

Hanako wanted to sigh. _'Hinata-chan still has self confidence issues. I should have stepped in years ago_.' "Hinata-chan, I'm not upset. I'm very proud of you. I **_want_** both you and Hanabi-chan to learn to adapt and grow. The policy of the juken forms being set in stone are something I've felt were wrong since I was little. If you want to experiment then by all means do so. Someone who might be familiar with the juken style could be totally blindsided by a kick from the snake style. I think what you are doing is rather innovative. I wish _I_ would have thought of some of those things when I was an active duty kunoichi."

Maya nodded in encouragement. "Hanako Obaa-chan is right Hinata-chan. Besides, you putting Bunshichi out of the fight with that rising snake kick to the groin was priceless." laughed Maya. "You may have been embarrassed but that move could save your life someday."

Naruto winced at the memory of Bunshichi-sensei going doing cross eyed with a look of pain only a fellow male would understand before he collapsed into a pained, lifeless heap. "Please don't ever use that move on me Hinata-chan. I think it could potentially be fatal. Anko nee-chan nearly laughed herself sick so you _know_ it's effective against enemies -especially _male_ ones."

Hinata was blushing but said, "Don't worry Naruto-kun. I'd _never_ use that move on you." She smiled softly when she saw the immense look of relief on Naruto's face.

"So what are you going to name your special move nee-chan?" asked Hanabi innocently. "Anko-sensei had all kinds of interesting names for it."

Hinata just blushed heavily...

 **ANBU Armory**

"And you're done Haruno." said Mura. "Remember to eat more and build up some muscle tone. You and that blonde girl are like a pair of broomsticks."

Sakura went out and found the other three waiting for her. "Nice, the flak vest covers what can't be seen billboard brow." snarked Ino.

"You should really watch what you say porker." growled Sakura. "I think you're projecting again. Taro-san, can you get her a full ANBU mask as well? Preferably of a boar."

The two best friends/worst enemies growled at each other and Shikamaru and Choji took that as their cue to leave - _quickly_.

 **Natsume Clan Home, that evening** ….

Having been trained into the ground by their Obaa-chan all day, the three special genin trainees were getting ready to hit their beds for the evening since they had to get up before the crack of dawn. Other than Naruto who was still a little worried about his test scores they all seemed as prepared as they could be. Maya and Hinata were both in Maya's room and were quietly giggling to themselves. "It's simple Hinata-chan. We'll sit on either side of Naruto-kun and each give him a kiss on the cheek goodnight. That will take his mind of his worries and show him how we feel." said Maya totally convinced of her plan.

"D-don't you think that's a little to bold Maya-chan?" asked Hinata with a blush.

Maya shook her head. "It's _just_ a peck on the cheek. If we were each planning to grab his face and ram our tongues down his throat one after the other _that_ would be bold."

Hinata had a slight nosebleed at those mental images and said, "Alright Maya-chan. Let's do this before I lose my nerve."

 **Naruto's room** ….

Naruto was setting everything up neatly in his room so it would be easy to find everything and put it on at 3 A.M. when he prayed his alarm would wake him up. He heard a knock on his door and found Maya-chan and Hinata-chan in there sleeping yukatas. "Can we come in Naruto-kun? We just wanted to talk a minute before we went to sleep." said Maya with a tiny blush on her cheeks.

Naruto was already in his boxers and a t-shirt with the Uzumaki swirl on it. He was surprised the girls weren't already asleep but invited them in. "Sure, we can talk a minute, come on in." said Naruto.

Hinata and Maya both assured Naruto that everything was going to be all right and the three of them would help each other out no matter what. Naruto seemed to be a little bit more at ease. Maya and Hinata made eye contact and both nodded while blushing as they closed their eyes a learned in to give Naruto a little kiss….

Hinata was surprised to find lips meeting her own. ' _Naruto-kun's lips are so soft and gentle….I can't believe we're actually kissing! I….I….should I try using my tongue? This is so amazing!_ '

Naruto's eyes were growing wider and wider at the shock of the sudden action.

Hinata was lost in the heat of the moment and heard a soft feminine moan along with her own….Hinata's eyes popped open and saw Maya-chan's blue eyes staring back at her in total shock. The two kunoichi's it training recoiled and pulled back though there was a string of saliva between their lips. "Oh. My. God." said Maya. "I just gave my first kiss to Hinata-chan!"

Hinata was blushing like a tomato. "M-Maya-chan? Why did you? Naruto-kun!" she turned to the blonde haired boy only to find he must have leaned back and was currently lying unconscious with a huge smile and blood leaking copiously out of his nose.

 ** _Naruto's mindscape_** ….

Naruto was staring at his two best friends as they moaned into each other's mouths and it was simply too much for him two see two beautiful young kunoichi's kissing each other. All the blood in his body rushed to his groin and out his nose before he passed out and now was in a world where everything was white. A chibi Naruto walked along until he saw a small mountain and climbed it. At the top was a chibi Bunshichi sitting on the hill in the lotus position dressed like some kind of wise man. He was smoking a long and elaborate pipe.

"I see you have come to see me after your long journey to find enlightenment my loyal student." said chibi Bunshichi as he exhaled a puff of smoke.

Yes Bunshichi-sensei." said chibi Naruto. "I have found both inner and outer peace at last."

Chibi Bunshichi nodded in a sage like manner. "Now that that you have become truly enlightened I have these words to pass unto you as my own Master imparted them to me. Engrave these words into your heart, mind and soul so you might pass them on to those that you will have as your own students in the future."

"I am ready to hear these words of wisdom my Master." said chibi Naruto reverently.

"Then listen well to my words Naruto." said chibi Bunshichi with great flourish. " _Let it be known that there's no movie whether it be animated or live action that can't be made better without the addition of a hot lesbian sex scene_."

Chibi Naruto shed tears of joy at his Master's wise words. "No truer words have ever been spoken my Master."

With that the two chibi men sat silently and reflected upon their enlightened thoughts….

 **Back in reality** ….

Maya and Hinata were both sitting and blushing as they stared at the massive erection that the unconscious Naruto was now sporting. Maya chuckled very weakly. "Well Hinata-chan; I think Naruto-kun is happy and resting peacefully."

Hinata had her palm on her forehead. "I can't believe we just lost our first kiss to _each other_ …." Her eye was still trained on Naruto's bulging crotch. "Well, he _does_ seem happy. I think we should call it a night and try to explain in the morning. Naruto-kun is totally comatose." she said still blushing. It took all the two girls willpower not to check out the goods.

Both kunoichis in training gave the unconscious Naruto a peck on the cheek. "Pleasant dreams Naruto-kun." said Hinata as they turned out the light and closed the door behind them.

POSTSCRIPT:

Okay, before anyone gets too excited, this is not going to become some kind of yuri smutfest (although it may become a running gag). Chibi wise man Bunshichi may return in the future at the most inopportune times to give more _helpful advice_ ; we'll just have to see. Also, I decided to put a whole new spin on Jiraiya and Tsunade. Jiraiya has had a lot more going on than anyone realized and Tsunade actually has some direction in her life now that she is married and has a cute daughter. Also, it seems that Hiruzen is moving behind the scenes to get rid of Danzo for good and co-opt ROOT in the process. Now for the important question; will Naruto actually be able to keep up his test scores? The chapters for _Lunar Eclipse_ and _Magik_ are both in the works but I seem to still be coming with ideas for this story so the chapters may keep coming out faster than planned. See you next chapter. Blue out. 5/28/15


	9. Chapter 9

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Kind of off topic but Madara in his red armor seems to bear more than a passing resemblance to Paul Stanley from the band _KISS_ to me. At least he didn't break out into song. I think that him singing _I Was Made for Loving You_ might have won him the battle against Harishima at the Valley of the End because the First Hokage would have been defeated by running in horror or laughter (or both). Just a random thought….This chapter is called _A Day in the Life_. Here's chapter 9:

Last time:

 _….Chibi Bunshichi nodded in a sage like manner. "Now that that you have become truly enlightened I have these words to pass unto you as my own Master imparted them to me. Engrave these words into your heart, mind and soul so you might pass them on to those that you will pass onto your own students in the future."_

 _"I am ready to hear these words of wisdom my Master." said chibi Naruto reverently._

 _"Then listen well to my words Naruto." said chibi Bunshichi with great flourish. " Let it be known that there's no movie whether it be animated or live action that can't be made better without the addition of a hot lesbian sex scene."_

 _Chibi Naruto shed tears of joy at his Master's wise words. "No truer words have ever been spoken my Master."_

 _With that the two chibi men sat silently and reflected upon their enlightened thoughts…._

 ** _Back in reality_** _…._

 _Maya and Hinata were both sitting and blushing as they stared at the massive erection that the unconscious Naruto was now sporting. Maya chuckled very weakly. "Well Hinata-chan; I think Naruto-kun is happy and resting peacefully."_

 _Hinata had her palm on her forehead. "I can't believe we just lost our first kiss to each other…." Her eye was still trained on Naruto's bulging crotch. "Well, he does seem happy. I think we should call it a night and try to explain in the morning. Naruto-kun is totally comatose." she said still blushing. It took all the two girls willpower not to check out the goods._

 _Both kunoichis in training gave the unconscious Naruto a peck on the cheek. "Pleasant dreams Naruto-kun." said Hinata as they closed the door behind them._

 **Chapter 9**

 **Konoha, Natsume Clan Home**

Naruto's night was full of erotic dreams starring his two best friends. When he woke up to his alarm at 3 A.M. he was covered in sweat and got up to take a cold shower before he got to thinking again. ' _Oh god, I dreamed of Hinata-chan with Maya-chan, Hinata-chan with me, Maya-chan with me, Maya-chan **and** Hinata-chan with me….I even remember Emi-chan being in there somewhere….I'm becoming a total pervert_ ….' He lamented in his mind. Turning up the cold water flow a bit; Naruto willed the water to wash his perverse thoughts clean….too bad it didn't work. It was a nice idea though….

Hanako used her byakugan and found all three of her fourteen year old charges were up and taking care of their morning rituals. Sighing and deciding her initial plan to douse them with buckets of ice cold water to wake them up was shot she decided to fix the kids some breakfast after she put the three buckets away….

Hinata had a cold shower to deal with her own perverse thoughts first thing and was now brushing her teeth. She was trying to figure out a way to explain to Naruto that she and Maya-chan were planning to kiss _him_ and not _each other_ that was going to be simple. She was blushing. ' _I wonder if that dream I had last night will come true_ (giggle) _. Man what a ride I'll have on that stallion! Come to think of it, I wonder if Naruto-kun will even be awake enough to know we're talking to him. He isn't exactly an early riser….on an unrelated note I'm going to ask Obaa-chan about those three buckets she had out in the kitchen. When I looked at her in there with my byakugan first thing when I woke up she looked just a little too eager for my tastes_….'

Maya was taking her own shower and pondering the same things as Hinata. She'd been dreaming that she took Naruto's tool out for examination and….things got pretty x-rated after that. The silver haired girl had the most intense wet dream of her life last night and really needed this cold shower. ' _Good god! That dream I had last night was incredible. I soooo want to tell Naruto-kun about it….No! I must be resolute and set a good example for Aya-chan! Aaaugh! My face is heating up like it's on fire again; I just know I'm blushing like Hinata-chan does_ ….'

Hanako saw the three blushing teens coming into the kitchen and saw the girls and Naruto were stealing glances at one another before quickly looking away. ' _Ah, to be young again_ ….' "Good morning kids, did you all get enough rest? Did you dream about anything _interesting?_ " she added slyly. All three of them violently shook their heads 'no' before blushing madly. ' _Hmmm….I could torment them a while longer but they might be late….I'll have fun with them later_.' "Alright, let's get some food in you three. You have a big day ahead of you and can't afford to be late on your first day."

After they ate Hanako shooed them out the door and chuckled to herself before thinking, ' _Maybe it's those tight uniforms. They've had them a couple of days to get used to them but obviously the effect hasn't worn off. With all those hormones rushing around inside them I probably shouldn't tease the kids too much….Or maybe I should._ '

….

 **Konoha Ninja Academy, 3:55 A.M**.

Naruto, Maya and Hinata made their way into Room 301 in silence. Inside they saw a large room of desks that was far too big for twelve students. A tired Chunin yawned and asked for their names before he directed them to sit in one of the front two rows of desks which were six chairs across. They saw Sasuke, Sakura, Ino and Shino were already there. Shino was sitting towards the middle and Sasuke was sitting furthest from the door in the front corner. Sakura and Ino naturally were directly beside and behind Sasuke respectively and had the last Uchiha boxed in.

Deciding they didn't want to be near Sasuke and his fan club; Maya took the front seat closest to the door, Naruto sat beside her and Hinata sat behind him. Emi, Choji and a zombified Shikamaru came in next. Choji and Shikamaru sat in the center with Shino and Emi came over and sat behind Maya. Kiba dragged himself in with Akamaru asleep on top of his head about a minute later and plopped down between Hinata and Shino. That left one student not present and one seat left diagonal of Sasuke….which was filled by an unknown, pale boy name Sai who gave his name before sitting down in the last spot.

Sai's eyes roamed over the very tired looking class and he picked out Naruto, Maya and Sasuke immediately. Danzo-sama gave him the class roster and pointed out those particular three….

 _Flashback…._

 _Danzo had just handed the kneeling Sai eleven folders with the dossiers of his classmates. "You are to familiarize yourself with all of your classmates Sai. This group all has great potential despite the fact they aren't trained as well as you are. I want you to pay particular attention to the following three: You are to ingratiate yourself to Uzumaki Naruto who is our village's jinchūriki and the heir to the throne of the Land of Whirlpools. Watch his actions and treat him with the greatest of respect. The notes on him are extensive so read them in detail."_

 _"And the other two Danzo-sama?" asked Sai._

 _"Natsume Maya is the heiress to the Natsume clan and probably is the strongest kunoichi in your class. I simply want you to be aware of her. Personally I believe she is the strongest shinobi out of all your class. She has excellent discipline and both a strong mind and body. She would be a good ally to have later." stated Danzo._

 _Sai nodded. "I should try to ingratiate myself to her as well then."_

 _"The last one I want you to watch is Uchiha Sasuke but for different reasons." said Danzo. "I believe he is a potential flight risk given his psychiatric profiles are unbalanced. He is one I'm going to arrange for you to watch in case he tries anything in the future. While he is strong for an Academy student, his grades and potential to become 'Rookie of the Year' were very inflated to boost his ego. The preferential treatment he has received all his life because of his status as the 'Last Uchiha' has led him to be narcissistic and prideful which will be detrimental to him in the future."_

 _"Will he still be receiving this preferential treatment?" asked Sai._

 _Danzo shook his head. "No, your instructor is Uzuki Yūgao who is a very talented young ANBU who specializes in kenjutsu. She will not tolerate favoritism. Uzuki is aware of your ROOT status so be careful and compliant around her. It is a shame we could not bring her into ROOT as she is an exemplary kunoichi. Unfortunately the Hokage recruited her first."_

 _"Are there any further instructions Danzo-sama?" asked the pale boy._

 _"No, I trust you to make sound judgments of your own accord although you should attempt to be 'friends' with you classmates." The way Danzo said 'friends' made it obvious he found the concept distasteful._

 _Flashback end…._

Having studied the way to 'make friends' from a book Sai sat down quietly between Ino and Shino in a good position to watch over Sasuke. As virtually no one was talking Sai decided to remain quiet as well until their instructor arrived.

Uzuki Yūgao appeared in a body flicker at precisely 4:00 A.M. She picked up the roster from the chunin there and dismissed him. "I am your instructor Uzuki Yūgao. You will address me as Yūgao-sensei or Uzuki-sensei. I am an ANBU Kenjustu specialist. I have studied the dossiers of each and every one of you so there is no need for introductions. If you wish to socialize you can do it during meal breaks. Food will be provided in the cafeteria for both of your meal breaks which are an hour each to start with. Your days are from 4 A.M. to 4 P.M." Yūgao threw a kunai that hit the center of Shikamaru's desk which frightened him into alertness and shocked everyone else. "You are to be _awake_ and _alert_ every second of the day. Slacking will **_not_** be tolerated. Remember; this training was especially given to you by orders of the Hokage himself." She pulled her kunai from Shikamaru's desk and finished her introduction by saying, " **I will train you to stay alive in the field even if it kills you**."

She quickly wrote on the chalkboard:

4-6 Theory -Strategy and Tactics

6-8 Physical -Obstacle course, Taijustu Sparring and Target Practice

8-9 Breakfast

9-11 Theory –Anatomy, Infiltration and Espionage

11-1 Physical –Ninjutsu and Chakra Control

1-2 Lunch

2-4 Specialized Training

"I'm making this as simple as possible." said Yūgao. "Everything will be free form so times may vary. If we have to work through a meal break we will." Choji and Emi gasped in horror. "Additional training by others will be available if you can't keep up or have a noticeable weak point that I feel needs to be addressed. Your last two hours of the day are specialized training. You will be trained in things outside of the normal Academy curriculum. These include but are not limited to kenjustu, bojutsu, kusarigamajutsu, medical ninjutsu and fuinjutsu. The idea is for you to develop a specialty or specialties that will make you a more valuable ninja in the future. You can pick up to two specialty courses and if you find it doesn't suit you then you can switch to something you prefer. Specialties are **_not_** optional. They are for your benefit and I expect you to take advantage of them. Questions?"

Choji raised his hand and said, "Are snacks allowed in class?" with desperation in his tone.

"As long as you aren't disturbing others or making a mess I don't care Akimichi." said Yūgao. Choji and Emi both sighed in relief. Emi didn't eat like Choji in class but she normally had a stash in her backpack for ' _emergencies_.'

"What about Math, Geography and History?" asked Sakura. ' _Those are how I keep my grades up!_ '

Yūgao shook her head. "All those will be touched on but you've had those courses pounded into your head for years. If you want remedial classes after the day is over or on weekends then I will assign them as needed."

"Since we have such long days will there be homework?" asked Kiba. ' _Please kami-sama; let there be no homework!'_

"Homework will consist of group exercises that I will assign on Mondays and will be turned in the following Monday. I will pick teams of three or four and you partners will complete the assignments as ordered." explained Yugao.

"Can we pick who is on our teams?" asked Ino hopefully.

"No." replied Yūgao with a tone of finality. "Your teammates will change every week so you will get to know everybody. That way you will be flexible in the field. If a particular combination works well then I will notify the Hokage for him to consider when he assigns genin teams at the end of the course."

Sasuke looked up and said, "What about the class ranking system?"

Yūgao had been expecting this one. "Class rankings mean _nothing_ in this course. You all passed the minimum requirements so you got in. You all are _equals_ regardless of your former standings and you are expected to cooperate fully with one another as professionals." Seeing there were no more questions Yūgao added, "Quitting is not an option; however if I judge you to be a liability to your classmates you will be dropped from the ninja program entirely."

Everyone got wide eyed at this. "If we fail this course then we won't be sent back to the normal one?" asked Shikamaru who was planning to fail to get out of this.

"Precisely." said Yūgao. "It's all or nothing."

"That's not fair!" said Ino loudly.

"Neither is life." answered the purple haired sword mistress. "If you don't like it then complain to the Hokage after class lets out. As a final note, absences and tardiness will not be accepted without an official report as to why. I will not go looking for you but the ANBU will so make sure if you miss that you're injured or sick enough that you go to the hospital."

' _Gee, when Cat nee-chan said she would be putting us through hell she wasn't kidding_.' thought Naruto. ' _I'll do my best though. I'm going to be Hokage someday! Besides, Hanako Obaa-chan won't tolerate any less_.' He thought with a shiver as he thought about the ' _chopsticks of doom_.'

"Let's start class by learning your chakra affinities." Yūgao said as she pulled out sheets of chakra paper. "Come up here in front of the class and channel chakra into a piece of chakra paper as I call out your names." This was new to most of the students but Hanako had already tested her three charges with Naruto having wind, Hinata having water* and Maya having earth and water.**

….

 **7 A.M. Ninja Academy sparring grounds**

' _It's official; I'm truly in hell!_ ' lamented Ino in her mind. After two hours of strategy discussions that had her head spinning they went out to an obstacle course that only an evil maniac could have designed, target practice and now taijutsu sparring. Worst of all it wasn't divided by gender! The boys and the girls were treated equally and now poor Hinata was facing Sasuke-kun! ' _I hope he isn't too hard on her. Hinata's a nice girl and doesn't deserve to be beaten up_.'

Sasuke was shaking his head as he stood there nonchalantly. "Seriously, fighting a _kunoichi?_ Hyūga, just forfeit. You can't win and I have no interest in this farce."

In the past Hinata probably would have done that but between all the frustration she had bottled up at her clan and the fact Hanako Obaa-chan was driving her hard Hinata decided to vent some of her anger. ' _The Uchiha hadn't even assumed a stance!_ ' she thought angrily.

Maya was watching the fight begin and whispered to Naruto, "Uh-oh, Hinata-chan is _pissed_." Naruto just nodded with a feral smile.

Hinata's byakugan blazed. "Very well Uchiha; if _you_ won't take this fight seriously then _I_ will. _Eight trigrams sixteen palms!_ " Sasuke was totally blindsided by her offensive. He truly expected her to turn around and run away in fear. The sixteen palm strike that Hinata unleashed on him wasn't a mere bitch slap either. Sasuke went flying out of the ring with several chakra points closed.

"Winner, Hyūga Hinata." Yūgao said in a bored tone. "Next time go for the thirty two palms Hyūga. If he doesn't respect you send him out on a stretcher instead of holding back."

"Yes Yūgao sensei." said Hinata as she bowed and stepped back over with her classmates.

Ino and Sakura were horrified at Sasuke being patched up by the medics. " _Why_ did you do that Hinata?" screeched Sakura. "He was trying to be nice to you." Ino was nodding rapidly at Sakura's assessment.

" _He was not_." said Maya cutting in. "He was being totally disrespectful to us kunoichis. I think Hinata-chan should have thirty-two palmed him as well." Maya had drawn Choji earlier. She kind of felt bad for knocking the chubby boy out of the ring so quickly. After the spar was called in her favor she helped Choji up and gave him some encouragement as best she could which Yūgao-sensei seemed to approve of.

Naruto fought Kiba earlier and had fun but Yūgao scolded him for holding back too much. It seemed that she was almost as hardcore as Hanako Obaa-chan when it came to full contact sparring.

Sasuke yelled "You'll regret this Hyūga!" as he struggled to sit up.

Hinata gave him a byakugan glare that would freeze hell. "Then next time I won't hold back Uchiha."

Just then, Hyūga Ko was dragged out of the trees by two ANBU and sat on his knees before Yūgao. "We found this interloper spying on your group Uzuki. Do you want us to take him to Ibiki?" Ko was feeling a bit faint right now.

Yūgao turned and glared down at Ko. "Well, care to explain yourself? –Or would a torture session help loosen your tongue?"

Ko was allowed to stand and blurted out, "I was sent by Hiashi-sama to observe Hinata-sama's progress and to make sure that she is alright. He is concerned for her well being."

"Ko…." said Hinata in a hiss as she walked over to face him.

"Yes Hinata-sama?" asked Ko sweating.

" _Eight trigrams thirty-two palms!_ " was what Ko heard/felt next. He tried to mount a defense but Hinata's different style of juken that Hanako taught her was far more difficult for him to gauge and he went flying. Ko rolled to as stop with a groan as he heard Hinata quietly say, "Pass that along to Hiashi-sama and tell him his ' _concern for my well being_ ' is noted and will be relayed to Hanako-sama and the Hokage."

Yūgao knew exactly what was going on but feigned ignorance. "Did you have any other enquiries of my student Ko-san? If not ANBU will drop you off at your compound."

Ko groaned, "Forgive me Hinata-sama. I am so sorry for what happened…." At Yūgao's hand signal Ko was whisked away by the two ANBU.

Most of the class stared at Hinata in shock. Maya hugged her friend to comfort her. Yūgao nodded in approval. "Natsume, take Hyūga back to the classroom to settle down for a few minutes; then the two of you meet us for breakfast at eight in the cafeteria."

….

After the two girls left several of the students asked what was going on with the Hyūgas but Naruto remain shut mouthed and Yūgao told them it wasn't their concern and to get back to sparring.

 **Konoha Academy Classroom**

Maya sat down with Hinata who was crying silently and said, "Damn them! Haven't they done enough?"

Maya soothed her friend until she calmed down. "I think you got your point across. We'll tell Hanako Obaa-chan tonight after class okay? Remember Naruto-kun and are here for you always Hinata-chan."

A few minutes later Hinata nodded and sighed. "I'm okay now Maya-chan. I just feel like I'm stuck in the eye of a storm. Let's go to breakfast. I am starving."

 **8 A.M. Academy Cafeteria**

"I just realized I should probably be getting out of bed about now." said Kiba with a chuckle as he sat down across from Choji and Shikamaru.

Shikamaru yawned and stretched. "I can't believe what a drag this day this has been. I feel so bad for Hinata. I knew something has been messed up with the Hyūga clan lately but I don't think 'troublesome' is strong enough word to describe it."

Emi was talking to Ino at the next table. "You can pity Sasuke all you want but compared to the hell Hinata-chan unleashed on her clansman I personally think she did the Uchiha a favor."

"I don't get it Emi." replied Ino. "You said you like strong men and yet you don't like Sasuke-kun and sit with Naruto."

Emi raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Look at how _scrawny_ the Uchiha looks in that uniform. Try punching Naruto-kun's arm Ino. _It's solid muscle_. That's what _I_ like in a man. He may be shorter but Naruto-kun has _plenty_ of time to grow." Emi said as she dug in to her (super sized) breakfast.

Ino saw Naruto standing over by Hinata and Maya who just came in and went over to see Hinata. She punched Naruto in the arm and felt like she hit a piece of rock. Naruto didn't budge but turned his head to face Ino and said "Yes Ino?"

"Ouch…." Ino said flexing her fingers. "I just came over to check on Hinata and bopped your arm to get your attention. Are you wearing some armor under your gear?"

Naruto got a look of confusion and said. "We all have the same gear Ino. It's just mesh."

Ino squeezed Naruto's arm and said "Make a muscle." Naruto rolled his eyes and did so which made Ino's eyes widen. Maya and Hinata started getting steamed at Ino's obvious intentions (at least to them; Naruto was oblivious as always).

Hinata said with a glare, "If you're all done _feeling up_ Naruto-kun; didn't you say you wanted to see _me?_ " Maya's death glare on top of Hinata's didn't make Ino feel too safe and she quickly released Naruto's arm she'd been fondling.

"Sorry about that Hinata." said Ino chuckling lamely. "I just wanted to make sure that you're okay. I don't know what's going on but you seemed really upset."

Relaxing a bit; Hinata said, "I'm okay now Ino. There have been some major issues at the Hyūga Compound so I'm staying with my Obaa-chan right now instead of there. It will all blow over eventually."

Maya smiled and said, "Let's all get some food and sit down. It looks like Emi has saved us some places. Besides, I can hear Naruto-kun's stomach growling."

….

Ino soon found herself sitting with across from Hinata, Maya and Naruto with Emi and the new guy, Sai. He introduced himself with a fake smile and said, "I am Sai; I was privately instructed in the ninja arts so the Academy is new to me. It is a pleasure to meet you all; especially you Naruto-sama."

Naruto was sweating. He said lamely, "Um, why are you calling me –sama? I'm just plain old Uzumaki Naruto."

Sai smiled again. Well, that's obvious Naruto-sama. You carry the Royal Blades of the Uzumaki Royal Family, _Shippuuhime_ and _Kurimuzo-kougou_. It's a well known fact you wouldn't be able to wield them if you weren't a Prince of the Land of Whirlpools. I know a bit about sword heraldry and-"

Naruto lunged and grabbed the pale boy's neck cutting off all his air circulation. Naruto wrenched Sai out of his seat lifted him up to face him. "That's _classified_ by the order of the Hokage you fool! My lineage is _not_ to be spoken of."

The whole class (except Maya and Hinata) stared with wide eyes in shock along with Yūgao. There was total silence aside of the choking noises from Sai. Yūgao quickly said "Uzumaki, release Sai this instant! He can't breathe!"

Naruto let go of Sai who fell back and was gasping for air. Naruto just towered over him menacingly. His blue eyes were blazing and Yūgao saw his right hand moving steadily towards the grip of the _Shippuuhime_. "Naruto, _stand down now_." she said authoritatively. His eyes flashed at hers for a second and then he stepped away from the table where Sai was still struggling to get some oxygen back in his lungs. Releasing a breath she unknowingly held she said to Naruto and the others, " _Not one word_ from any of you about this until we are back in the classroom." She quickly checked Sai's rapidly bruising neck and made a ' _Tsk_ ' sound. ' _Naruto meant to execute him_.' "I'm taking Sai to the infirmary to get his neck checked. You all will meet me back in the classroom in twenty minutes. Remember: **_Not one word_**."

' _My god Ino's Mom was right! Naruto is royalty!_ ' thought Sakura with wide eyes. ' _If that's the case does he know about his Mother too?_ '

Shikamaru said, "Just when I thought things couldn't get more troublesome. Let's finish eating and go back to class."

Ino quickly noticed Hinata and Maya putting their hands on Naruto's shoulders in a comforting manner and that they weren't surprised. As they sat him back down to finish breakfast Ino noticed Emi was staring in absolute shock. ' _I guess Emi didn't know either but Maya and Hinata obviously did. I wonder what I should do now._ ' Seeing everyone going back to eating their meals in silence Ino noticed everyone had looks of disbelief and bafflement but Sasuke looked completely incensed. He already looked battered from the spar with Hinata earlier and now how was looking more and more jealous and enraged.

….

Yūgao body flickered with Sai to a closed off classroom. "Danzo told you to say those things didn't he ROOT?"

Sai was nursing his sore neck and said, "I wasn't aware it was classified but I do know about the swords and his Mother, I was trying to make friends with him but it seemed I've failed for today given how violently he reacted."

"And who is his Mother?" asked Yūgao.

"His Mother is Uzumaki Kushina who was known as the Red Hot Habenero and was a Kage level kunoichi." said Sai. "Can we please check my neck Yūgao-sensei?"

Yūgao sighed. ' _Danzo probably views him as expendable anyway_.' "I'm taking you to the infirmary ROOT. You are not to utter one word about Uzumaki's family or royal status unless asked to by myself, the Hokage or Uzumaki. **_I am watching you_**."

 **Konoha Academy Classroom**

The class was all back in their seats at 9 A.M. and a few minutes later Yūgao appeared with Sai in a body flicker. The nurse suggested Sai go to the Hospital but Yūgao told him he could see a medic after class was over since his neck injuries were not life threatening even though the black and blue blotches looked like hell on his pale skin.

"Go to your seat Sai." said the purple haired sword mistress. She'd sent an ANBU messenger to the Hokage and was waiting for his instructions on how to proceed. Seeing her class was totally preoccupied and were all dumbfounded she decided to wait until this matter was settled before she proceeded. They wouldn't be able to pay attention in this state. ' _The first damn day and there's already a huge mess. The whole class may have to be mind wiped. I was very curious about those swords myself but I didn't have a clue those were the Royal Blades of Uzu –no wonder Naruto-kun said it was classified._ '

An ANBU appeared ten minutes later with a sealed note in hand. She handed it off to Yūgao and vanished. "Uzumaki, come up and read this with me." Naruto was soon standing by Yūgao as she broke the seal on the Hokage's letter. It read:

 _ANBU Yugao Uzuki-_

 _You and Uzumaki Naruto have formal permission to reveal Naruto's Royal Lineage and his Mother to the class. His Father's identity is classified though I'm sure Danzo knows who it is. The class is to know this information is classified and revealing it will result in severe punishment. Yūgao, please show this letter to Naruto as well so he knows about this._

 _The Third Hokage,_

 _Sarutobi Hiruzen_

Naruto let out an audible sigh and thought, ' _The first fucking day_.'

Yugao destroyed the note and said, "What is about to be revealed is classified and if you share it with others the penalties will be severe per Hokage-sama. If you don't believe you can keep this information to yourself I will arrange for your memories of this information to be wiped by a member of the Yamanaka Clan. Raise your hand if you want your memories wiped." When no one raised their hands she turned to Naruto and said, "Please inform the class of the things Hokage-sama mentioned in his letter Uzumaki."

Naruto stood for a moment and then said, "My Kaa-san was the last surviving member of the Royal Uzumaki family that ruled over the Land of Whirlpools which is now extinct. She was a Princess named Uzumaki Kushina. She was a seal mistress of the highest order and a Kage level kunoichi. She was also known as The Red Hot Habanero. I inherited the title of Prince as her son but that was only revealed to me recently due to security reasons. It is not to be revealed publically until my sixteenth birthday. I presume the reason Sai was able to identify this was because I carry the katana _Shippuuhime_ and its sister wakizashi _Kurimuzo-kougou_. They can only be wielded by a member of the Uzumaki Royal Family although I'd be very curious as to how Sai knew what these blades look like considering they haven't been seen since before Konoha was founded."

"It wasn't my intention to upset you Naruto-sama." said Sai bowing in respect. "I have some interest in sword heraldry and wanted to ask you about the swords since the wakizashi was supposed to have been destroyed or lost. I had no idea the information or your family was classified. Please accept my apologies Naruto-sama."

Naruto looked like he was warding off the worst migraine in history. "I will accept you're apology Sai but if it happens again I will _kill_ you."

Sai gave his fake smile and nodded. "Thank you Naruto-sama."

"Just call me Naruto." said the blonde in a strained voice. "The rest of the village will start asking questions if you keep adding –sama to my name."

"As you wish Naruto-sa- Naruto." said Sai.

"That goes for everybody." added Yūgao. "We don't want rumors to start concerning Naruto."

Sasuke chuckled, "Like I'd lower myself to addressing a so called ' _prince_ ' of a dead country with a title. You're just a dead-last, clanless vagabond with a couple of subpar swords that are too good for you even at that. You're not _royalty_ in my eyes. Did a flood or a rainstorm wipe out this little country no one has ever heard of?" he asked with a smirk.

Sakura gasped in horror at what was just said. "Sasuke-kun, the Land of Whirlpools was a great ally of Fire Country. I read they were so feared because of their fuinjutsu skills that several _countries_ joined together to wipe them out during a war."

"That is correct Haruno." said Yūgao. "The First Hokage's wife was an Uzumaki and the swirl we have on our flak jackets and forehead protectors are to honor them because it is their family crest. I met Uzumaki Kushina when I was in training and she was a great kunoichi that was an inspiration to us. She was a candidate to be our Fourth Hokage though that title eventually went to Namikaze Minato."

Maya interjected, "It sounds like it took _entire nations_ bound together to destroy the Uzumakis in a war whereas it only took your psycho brother one night to kill off your whole clan _by himself_ Uchiha. It's sad but whatever reputation your clan had you are dragging through the mud with your awful behavior. Your ancestors would be ashamed of you. Your attitude toward Naruto-kun and others is disgusting. I don't see how you sleep at night."

Sasuke sputtered, "Maya, surely you can't believe that. A woman of you caliber should-" The Uchiha found himself suddenly smothered by killing intent so strong that he felt as if he was about to die. Trembling like a proverbial leaf he looked up and saw Naruto's blue eyes blazing with such cold fury that he nearly fainted.

Naruto said in a voice as cold as death itself, " _If you ever speak ill of my clan again I will cut out your eyes since they are the only thing you have of value_." Sasuke nearly wet himself in fear and nodded rapidly.

Seeing Sasuke was brought to heel; Yūgao said, "That will be enough Uzumaki. Return to your seat. This conversation is over." Naruto ceased his killing intent and returned to his desk where Maya and Hinata were waiting there to calm him down a bit.

….

 **4 P.M.**

Class was over and Yūgao dismissed her students. The purple haired ANBU was ready to scream. ' _There's more drama in this damn class than any soap opera I've ever seen! Damn you Hokage-sama! I've felt less tension in the air on a battlefield than this. Teaching these little hellions ought to be an S-class assignment!_ ' she ranted in her mind as she left for the apartment she shared with her boyfriend Hayate. ' _Maybe Hayate-kun can calm my nerves. I need him_.'

Naruto, Maya and Hinata traveled in silence as they headed back to the Natsume compound. They were all three physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted. There first day of the advanced genin course was far more difficult than they expected. ' _I hope tomorrow is easier_.' thought Maya. ' _The course itself could be much worse but that moronic Uchiha has moved up my shit list from really annoying to absolutely hated. Thank god Naruto-kun kept his temper in check. If he hadn't 'The Last Uchiha' would be in reference to Itachi. I can't believe that Uchiha prick tried to convince me he was in the right later over lunch. I should have clobbered him. He's finally shown his true colors. What loathsome piece of garbage he is_.'

Ino and Sakura were both a bit disillusioned. Their tragic prince turned out to be a totally different person when he finally opened his mouth. Sakura remembered the pictures of Kushina and Mikoto together and wondered what Uchiha Mikoto would have thought of her son's speech. It made her want to cry….

POSTSCRIPT:

*After the Fourth Databook, everyone in Naruto got all kinds of chakra affinity changes so I went with the older ones found in some of the games. For instance, in this story Hinata has water (like in several of the RPGs) whereas Kishimoto has her as having fire and lightning in the Fourth Databook. I have yet to puzzle all that out.

**Maya can manipulate wood as a weapon, etc. in Tenjho Tenge, thus earth and water. I don't know if this would qualify her as a mokuton user down the road but it's a possibility to consider. Since she doesn't have the ryugan it might make a cool alternative.

Well, a lot more drama than planned this chapter but that's the way it panned out. Sasuke has elevated himself to new heights of prickdom and appalled the entire class. Even his fan girls thought him insulting the dead was completely out of line. The Hyūgas seem to have crossed the line for good with the normally kind Hinata. The next couple of chapters will have excerpts from the classes but won't be hour by hour like this. It would be rather boring to read let alone write. Since there are no class rankings the way the Teams are arranged will be changed as well. See you next chapter. Blue out. 5/31/15


	10. Chapter 10

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This chapter is called _Games People Play_. I wanted to use Shogi elements in this chapter but I don't know the game well enough. I ended up using the Western equivalent Chess instead. Here's chapter 10:

Last time:

 _Class was over and Yūgao dismissed her students. The purple haired ANBU was ready to scream. ' There's more drama in this damn class than any soap opera I've ever seen! Damn you Hokage-sama! I've felt less tension in the air on a battlefield than this. Teaching these little hellions ought to be an S-class assignment!' she ranted in her mind as she left for the apartment she shared with her boyfriend Hayate. 'Maybe Hayate-kun can calm my nerves. I need him.' _

_Naruto, Maya and Hinata traveled in silence as they headed back to the Natsume compound. They were all three physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted. There first day of the advanced genin course was far more difficult than they expected. ' I hope tomorrow is easier.' thought Maya. 'The course itself could be much worse but that moronic Uchiha has moved up my shit list from really annoying to absolutely hated. Thank god Naruto-kun kept his temper in check. If he hadn't 'The Last Uchiha' would be in reference to Itachi. I can't believe that Uchiha prick tried to convince me he was in the right later over lunch. I should have clobbered him. He's finally shown his true colors. What loathsome piece of garbage he is.' _

_Ino and Sakura were both a bit disillusioned. Their tragic prince turned out to be a totally different person when he finally opened his mouth. Sakura remembered the pictures of Kushina and Mikoto together and wondered what Uchiha Mikoto would have thought of her son's speech. It made her want to cry…._

 **Chapter 10**

 **Konoha**

It had been two weeks since Naruto and the others started their special genin course. Things were going as well as could be expected. In the background, two old men and twelve young teens were playing games of chess in the shadows….

 **…. _Shimura_** _ **Danzo-**_ ** _getting out the playing board…._**

 **Shimura Danzo's residence**

Homura and Koharu were sitting with Danzo in his home. "Hiruzen was once a great man but he's just a shell of what he once was. I know you two agree." said Danzo. "Once this upcoming conflict with Orochimaru is resolved he will be dead or have stepped down. The fact he's taking a defensive approach instead of an offensive one disgusts me. We should crush the Sound Village before they set foot inside Fire Country. We have the power."

"It would require us to leave Konoha basically defenseless to do so Danzo." said Koharu. "I admit Hiruzen needs to retire but we can't just openly invade other countries."

"Koharu's right; we need to be subtle." agreed Homura. "I believe we should start black ops in Rice Country though. We'd need to get the information from Jiraiya to stage it though."

"Which is part of the problem." said Danzo. "Jiraiya is tied to Hiruzen so we can't get the information direct from him and he is _totally_ loyal to Hiruzen. He wouldn't trust us. We need to figure out a way to convince him to join us but that will be very difficult. Jiraiya is a dichotomy of brilliance and stupidity. We will need to tread carefully with him. If Jiraiya turns against us it would be a major blow to our intelligence gathering."

 ** _….Uzuki Yūgao-_** _ **setting up the pieces**_ **….**

 **Konoha Ninja Academy**

"This is your first homework assignment which is due Monday morning upon your arrival." said Yūgao Friday as class ended for the day. "You will each have your two teammates listed on your sheets. These assignments are considered classified and you _cannot_ discuss them with anyone outside of your team. These are very simple so do them over the weekend. Also enclosed are standard mission reports which you will fill out addressed to your commanding officer which is myself. Treat this as a C ranked mission. Even if you fail your mission you are to submit a report. You will find on occasions that one team's mission may be connected to another's be it in a cooperative or antagonistic manner. You are to meet your teammates after class without informing any others as they may be possible opponents."

Naruto was handed his sheet which read:

 _Team Red_

 _Members: Inuzuka Kiba, Nara Shikamaru, Uzumaki Naruto_

 _Your mission is to deliver classified documents from the Hokage's office secretary designated 'For Team Red.' You are not to read these documents under_ ** _any_** _circumstances. You will pick these documents up at 8 A.M. at the Hokage's office and are to deliver them at 4 P.M. at the water tower that services the east side of Konoha (it is **still** painted as an ice cream cone _**_Naruto_** _). Your contact that meets you there will signal you with the hand signs 'Monkey, Boar, Rat.' Once you have picked up these documents you are to protect them from hostiles by any non lethal means necessary. You **cannot** leave Konoha Village. It is the red country borders. Be aware that ANBU are monitoring your progress so do not attempt to cheat unless you like failing grades._

 _-Uzuki Yūgao_

Naruto glanced at Shikamaru and Kiba for a split second and their eyes locked for a second in acknowledgement. The mission was on...

Maya received her sheet:

 _Team White_

 _Members: Haruno Sakura, Hyūga Hinata, Natsume Maya_

 _You mission is to intercept classified documents and seize them by any non lethal means necessary..._

Choji received his assignment:

 _Team Blue..._

Sai was handed his sheet:

 _Team Black..._

Uzuki Yūgao was cackling evilly to herself in her mind. _'You brats are going to **suffer** the way I have by dealing with each other for eight hours Saturday. I hope you give each other **hell!** I should have gone with my original plan to have you travel to the tower in The Forest of Death but Hokage-sama wouldn't authorize it. I guess I'll have to try again later_.' Unknown to the class of twelve their diabolical instructor was _really_ planning to enjoy her weekend...

 ** _….Sarutobi Hiruzen-first move…._**

 **ANBU Headquarters**

"ANBU Commander Dragon, have all of the former ROOT Agents been given their 'special' ANBU tattoos?" asked the Third Hokage gravely.

Dragon nodded, "Yes sir, the paralysis shoulder tattoos are in place and can be activated by any of those of us keyed to it. If I may ask, where did those seals come from Hokage-sama? Our best seal masters couldn't figure them out at all."

Hiruzen said, "He wasn't keen on the idea of developing them but they were created by Uzumaki Naruto at my explicit orders. I had to explain the situation to him but frankly the boy's help was a necessity. I'd say even Jiraiya would have need weeks or even months to create something that complex and Naruto did it over a period of three days."

Dragon was stunned. "That boy did this...? But he's just an Academy student."

"...And he created a counter seal to remove them as well once matters are settled." said Sarutobi. "Make no mistake that Uzumaki Naruto is on par with his Mother Uzumaki Kushina at that age. She taught the Fourth Hokage everything he knew about sealing."

"Then all those insane pranks were done with seals." said Dragon. "That also explains how he bypassed the security seals in the Secure ANBU Ward of the hospital. There are probably other things he's pulled as well..."

The Third Hokage nodded. "Yes, and now he's given us the key to neutralize ROOT if Danzo tries to make an offensive move against us or full blown coup-de-tat. I let Danzo go once out of friendship but this time I will finish him for good."

 ** _….Shimura Danzo-second move…._**

 **Jonin Council Meeting Room Friday Evening**

"Let it be known that as the Military Advisor to the Hokage that I will not allow Konoha to be caught weakened like in recent events." said Danzo to the jonin council. "It is through my efforts that our shinobi forces are increasing. Konoha needs to be stronger and I promise you I will keep pushing until things are set right!" Danzo carried on passionately for another twenty five minutes….

 **Later at the Nara Ranch** ….

Shikaku was sitting with his old friends Choza and Inoichi –the original Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Inoichi asked, "So what do you make of this Shikaku? Hokage-sama already informed the Jonin Council discreetly about the upcoming war and now Danzo addresses us with the same information like it's new. You'd think he was starting a recruiting drive with all of his patriotic drivel."

"That's exactly what he was doing Inoichi." said Shikaku. "Danzo wants to upstage Hokage-sama and he wants our support in doing it. Bringing the ROOT out to be regular ANBU is a farce. The Hokage was trying to prevent a civil war from breaking out."

Choza grunted, "Well no one said anything about his honey laced lies. I think Hokage-sama let Danzo have the floor so he could discredit himself. No one in there was fooled but then again the old war hawk may not have known we were already apprised of the situation."

Inoichi shook his head. "Regardless there have been leaks and rumors of an upcoming conflict and that Hokage-sama may not be enough to guide us through another conflict. The opinions of the younger generations of ninjas are being targeted as much as us."

"You'll also note the rumors haven't reached the public at large." added Shikaku. "This rumor campaign is aimed at shinobis only. I informed Hokage-sama I felt this was bordering on treason but he told me he already had a plan in motion to deal with it. I know he wants to prevent open conflict but his credibility is being attacked."

"I just hope Hokage-sama knows what he is doing…." said Choza grimly.

 **…. _Uzumaki Naruto-getting the game rolling_ ….**

 **Outside the Hokage's Office Saturday morning...**

"This is such a drag." complained Shikamaru. "We each have a red headband and only six red kunai and six red shuriken each to ' _fight_ ' with –and they are _paint_ weapons at that."

Kiba nodded, "Well, at least it was easy to pick up the papers. We didn't have to wait in line or anything. How did you manage that Naruto?"

Naruto smirked. "I have my ways Kiba; don't worry about it."

Donning their red headbands and equipping their red kunai and shuriken the three unsuspecting boys started Mission: Impossible.

 **Meanwhile at the north gate...**

The white team was assembled. Maya smiled ferally. "So our job is to take out the Red Team and steal their documents. Hinata-chan; your eyes are going to give us a huge advantage here. Shame I couldn't use the Reiki though."

"I think that would be outside the non lethal rules Maya." said Sakura nervously as she saw the eager look in both Maya and Hinata's eyes. "I do totally agree though. I think Hinata's byakugan will help us immensely."

Hinata chuckled, "Leave it to me, soon our opponents will be ' _dead_ ' from white paint shuriken wounds and we'll have those documents well in hand. Then we can ' _escape back to our country_ ' here which is the north gate."

"This all kunoichi team is going to kick ass!" said Maya pumping her fist. "Let's start hunting." she said as she handed Sakura some binoculars. Team white quickly took to the rooftops (Yūgao taught the entire class the tree walking exercise in the first week) and started scanning about from a perch on a tall building.

 **At the east gate** ….

Sasuke, Choji and Emi were suited up with their blue gear. Sasuke said, "We are supposed to pick up the documents from our unknown contacts at 4 P.M. but that's only half the mission. We are also supposed to hunt down the black team which are missing nins and ' _kill_ ' them."

"Well, remember the code is _Monkey, Boar, Rat_." said Emi. "We should be able to wipe out the missing nins in the morning, catch a nice lunch and then complete the mission in the afternoon."

"I'm up for that!" said Choji. "The sooner we ' _kill_ ' the missing nins; the sooner we can chow down." The two cousins high fived at the idea of a big lunch.

"Must your life revolve solely around your stomachs?" asked Sasuke. "Emi, you don't want to be a fat ass like your cousin do you?" ' _Honestly; how does she eat that much without swelling up like a hot air balloon?_ '

Choji and Emi turned on Sasuke with bloodlust in their eyes. " ** _What was that?_** " they growled as one.

" _My mistake_ …." said Sasuke sweating.

"Stop making mistakes or you might end up as a casualty Uchiha." growled Emi.

 **In the Hot Springs District** **….**

Sai, Shino and Ino were gathered with their black gear on. Shino said in his usual monotone, "Well, we're all here. Our job is to rendezvous with the red team and take their documents. We are missing nins that have been in deep cover here in red country for some time. We only have partial information but the hand signs we do have are Monkey and Boar. The third one is unknown so hopefully we can catch them off guard. After we secure the documents we escape to the west gate."

Ino said, "Don't forget we double as bounty hunters. Members on other teams all are in our bingo book so if we play our cards right we'll get extra credit."

Sai gave a fake smile. "Well, we have our 'bingo book' with everyone's value so we should hit the highest bounty first. I wonder why my value is the least?"

"It's probably because of the annoying nicknames you've given everyone!" snapped Ino.

Sai replied, "I was told that nicknames were common and endearing among friends, Pig." Then Ino growled menacingly. Sai continued oblivious to his impending doom and said, "Anyway, Forehead always calls you that. What do you think Bug Boy?"

"I think the nicknames you've given others are quite unflattering and could lead to strife later." said Shino. "That aside; who has the highest bounties?"

Sai looked over their list and said, "It appears that Dickless, Cockroach and Naruto all have the highest bounties."

"So Sasuke, Maya and Naruto would be our prime targets as long as they aren't on the red team." said Shino.

Ino bashed Sai over the head. "I can't believe you call Sasuke-kun ' _Dickless!_ ' –and why doesn't Naruto have a nickname?"

Sai rubbed his neck subconsciously. "Naruto told me to address him as Naruto and nearly crushed my trachea at the time. As for Dickless; it just seemed appropriate."

"I'm forced to agree." said Shino much to Ino's shock. "At any rate, our first task is to identify the other teams. Logically there should only be four."

 **…. _Sarutobi_** _ **Hiruzen-recruiting a queen**_ **...**

 **Hokage's Office Saturday Morning**

The Third Hokage was finishing up his paper work in his office when a slug summons appeared on his desk and deposited a scroll before him. His old hands trembled slightly before he picked it up and read:

 _Sarutobi-sensei-_

 _I am coming home with my family to take the position of Fifth Hokage as you've requested. It was a hard decision but I believe it is the right one. Jiraiya-kun is sealing up everything as I write this. Expect us within five days as we have Mito-chan we won't be travelling at top speed. I believe it would be in our best interest to keep my return discreet for now so those in opposition of this move won't have time to set up a political defense._

 _Jiraiya-kun has explained the situation with Orochimaru and I will need your expertise as an advisor to deal with him. I also will be dismissing your former teammates as advisors so I would appreciate it if you could start thinking of possible candidates to replace them. When I arrive we will also need to deal with Shimura Danzo one way or another._

 _We will see you in a few days,_

 _-Senju Tsunade, Future Fifth Hokage_

Sarutobi Hiruzen almost shed tears of relief. He turned to the little slug summons waiting on his desk and said, "Please inform Tsunade-hime that I have received her message and that I look forward to seeing her soon." The slug bowed and then vanished in a puff of smoke.

 **…. _Aburame Shino-the first offensive_ ….**

 **Konoha Market District**

"What a stroke of luck!" said Ino excitedly. "Maya, Hinata and Sakura are all right there and they are the white team. Let's take them out!"

Sai shook his head. "Not at this range Pig. We need to set up an ambush for them."

"I agree with Sai." said Shino. "We should attack them from different angles. The biggest problem is Hinata is a Hyūga. She may already have spotted us with the byakugan and we have yet to surround them."

 **Nearby….**

"Hinata-chan?" asked Maya. "You seem distracted."

"We have a problem." said Hinata. "Naruto-kun and the Red Team are in front of us but don't seem aware that we are here. Behind us is the Black Team comprised of Shino, Ino and Sai. I think they may be trying to ambush us."

"Shit!" whispered Maya. "We could blindside Naruto-kun's team but could easily be wiped out ourselves in the process. We can't afford to be pinched between two teams."

Sakura was in deep thought. "Maybe we should attack the Black Team instead. If we move out of their line of sight for an instant we can set up a counterattack."

 **With Naruto's group on the street below** ….

"My instincts tell me we're being watched." whispered Kiba. Akamaru whimpered in agreement.

Naruto nodded. "I've got the same feeling…."

"Troublesome." said Shikamaru. "One of the other Teams may be onto us already. Naruto, do you know any quick exits off the main street?"

"Just follow me and act casual." said Naruto quietly as he took the lead. They entered the local market and started making their way to the back exit which led to an alley few knew about.

 **With Team White** ….

"They're rabbiting! Let's move now!" said Maya. "We don't want to lose them."

 **With Team Black** ….

"They're moving out; after them!" yelled Ino.

"Wait Ino!" said Shino. "Damn. Let's go after our teammate before she gets killed Sai."

Sai asked, "Why? Aren't casualties acceptable Bug Boy?"

"No; they are not Sai." said Shino. "We're all supposed to get through this together. Besides, Yūgao-sensei implied there would be penalties if we lost a teammate. Let's go _now_."

Sai and Shino landed on the street wondering where Ino was only for Sai to get hit by a flying kick from Maya that sent him crashing into a stand full of fruits and vegetables. " _OOOOOPS!_ " said Maya sarcastically.

Shino went to intervene but had to duck to avoid a white shuriken thrown by Sakura that impacted on a butcher with a _splat_ of white paint. " ** _GOD DAMNED BRAT!_** " screamed the butcher as he drew a wide assortment of cutlery.

Both Shino and Sakura thought, ' _Not good; not good at all_.' before they ran away as a pair from the enraged butcher.

Meanwhile, Maya landed gracefully after a roundhouse kick to Sai that knocked him unconscious. She finished the job with a white kunai ' _to the heart'_ that left a nice paint stain on Sai's shirt. " ** _Who's going to pay for my stand you little monster?!_** " said the owner of the stand that was wrecked earlier by Sai impacting on it.

Maya turned to face the man and saw ANBU running up the street towards her. She quickly pointed at Sai and said, "He is!" before she took off running away from the ANBU. Quickly ducking into an alley Maya lost the ANBU and ran up to a rooftop to reconnoiter the situation. With her binoculars she saw Shino escape but Sakura was 'captured' by Red Country ANBU. "Shit; we lost Sakura. I'd best meet up with Hinata-chan. We got overzealous in enemy territory. This mission sucks." thought the silver haired girl aloud to herself.

 ** _….Yamanaka Ino-complex maneuvers_** ….

 **Konoha Restaurant Discrict**

 **Team Black** ….

Things were quiet until lunchtime when Ino and Shino managed to find each other. "Where have you been?!" whispered a battered Ino to an equally battered Shino.

Shino frowned and said, " _I_ have been dueling with Sakura, running from a rabid butcher and then playing cat and mouse with the ANBU for two hours. Sai has been ' _killed_ ' and you disappeared! Where have _you_ been all this time Ino?"

"I've been running from Hinata!" said Ino spazzing out with exaggerated hand motions. "She's like a freaking bloodhound! Every time I thought I lost her she'd appear right on top of me and try to juken me to death!"

The two sat down at a café and ordered some food. "This day has gone from bad to worse." lamented Ino.

Shino sipped his tea. "While things have been discouraging it seems fortune hasn't completely abandoned us Ino; look over there. It's the blue team." In the dango shop next door they saw Choji and Emi eating their fill and Sasuke was facing away from them. "I say we take out Sasuke after we finish our meal and retreat."

Ino looked carefully. "I feel bad for just taking a cheap shot at Sasuke-kun that way. How do you know they won't finish before us?"

"In answer to the former, we ninjas take whatever easy victories we can get." said Shino. "Besides, Sasuke has proven himself to be nothing but an egotistical jackass since we started this advanced course. _Don't try to deny it Ino_."

Ino was going to defend Sasuke on reflex but then sadly nodded in agreement. ' _The only one he has eyes for is Maya anyway_ ….' she thought depressed.

Shino sighed. He really didn't like seeing Ino down this way. "Anyway, in answer to your second question, they won't finish eating before us because they keep ordering more."

 **Team Red** ….

Meanwhile, Naruto and Kiba were quietly looking up and around from under the lid of the garbage dumpster they were hiding in. They'd had to run from a brutal ambush from Team White when they were having lunch at Ichiraku's Ramen. "Kami above Naruto!" whispered Kiba. "Those girls are savages! I mean; it was bad enough that Shikamaru's last words were ' _troublesome_ ' before he got hit in the back with a white paint kunai; but they got poor Akamaru too!"

"We'll mourn our lost comrades later Kiba." said Naruto. "We have to complete this mission. I have to take some of the responsibility. I was so enthralled in enjoying the _Food of the Gods_ that I didn't sense their approach."

Kiba didn't know whether to feel inspired or appalled at Naruto's little speech….

 **Team Blue** ….

Sasuke was unconscious. His head was face down in his tomato filled salad with a black paint kunai sticking out of the back of his head. Choji and Emi stunned as they saw Shino and Ino rapidly retreating before the cousins exploded into raucous laughter at Sasuke's pathetic manner of ' _death_.' "I guess since you're dead we'll leave you with the bill Sasuke!" laughed Emi as she polished off her meal.

The ANBU showed up ten minutes later and found Sasuke's 'corpse' with the three checks shoved under his unconscious hand. "Damn, Yūgao's right. These little heathens are heartless!" said one ANBU to the other.

With Choji and Emi….the two cousins were still trying to stifle their laughter at leaving Sasuke behind to foot the bill. Emi finally got her giggling under control and said, "Alright, let's try to calm down. Obviously Shino and Ino are our opponents and are the missing nins we've been looking for all morning. On the other hand they did us a huge favor. I guess we should really be bent out of shape and try to avenge our ' _comrade_ ' Sasuke but somehow I just can't bring myself to do it."

Choji nodded and let out one last snort before he said. "Okay; time to get serious. We've got three hours till the rendezvous at the water tower and two missing nins to hunt down."

 **…. _Uzumaki Naruto-counterstrike_ ….**

 **Konoha Warehouse District**

Maya and Hinata pounced on Naruto and Kiba only to get pounced on by shadow clones. "Damn it. I knew this seemed too easy." growled Maya as she engaged Kiba hand to hand. The Inuzuka boy had already used the All Fours jutsu so he was going to be difficult.

In the meantime Naruto and his two remaining clones surrounded Hinata. "You and Maya-chan certainly have been making our lives difficult Hinata-chan. Who is the White Team supposed to be anyway?"

"That's unimportant Naruto-kun." said Hinata. "Be a good boy and play dead…."

Naruto heard Kiba use his Tunneling Fang jutsu and Maya nimbly avoided it. Kiba was headed straight towards Hinata who said "Kaiten!" and spun rapidly causing Kiba to ricochet off of the chakra dome surrounding her. When Kiba crashed to a halt into some crates he looked like hell. The dog ninja rolled out of the way of a white paint shuriken from Maya that missed his head by inches. He saw Naruto kick Hinata back once she stopped spinning into a pile of boxes which fell over on her. Then Maya and Naruto immediately launched paint kunai at each other and ' _killed_ ' one another with simultaneous splats of paint.

"Well, shit." said Naruto as he landed on his back 'dead.'

Maya felt the same way and said, "Damn, these paint kunai _hurt_. I guess I'm 'dead' too."

Kiba was finally standing again and saw the two sitting in the floor and the pile of boxes behind them. He heard Naruto say dramatically. "With my dying breath I hand you these documents Kiba. Get to the rendezvous point. Long live Red Country!"

Maya was snickering as Kiba took the documents and ran towards the water tower. They both heard a feminine groan come from Hinata as she climbed out of the boxes. After she assured the other two she was alright Hinata took off to try to track down Kiba and get the documents from him….

 **…. _Isuzu Emi-closing the trap_ ….**

 **The east side water tower**

Team Black and Team Blue gave up on their game of cat and mouse in the restaurant district and arrived simultaneously at the water tower. " _DAMN IT'S THEM!_ " all four shouted simultaneously. In the blink of an eye Choji ran over Ino and was 'killed' by a black shuriken from Shino. Emi then finished off Ino and Shino with her terrific accuracy at kunai throwing. Ino groaned as she saw the blue kunai stain over her heart. "Damn Emi; that stung! Remind me to never fight you in a kunai duel."

Shino had a blue stain in the middle of his forehead. "I concur with Ino on that matter. Are you alright Choji? You're doing an admirable job of playing dead."

Choji groaned, "I'm all right. I just got tripped up on Ino and you nailed me in the throat. I'm a little sore."

"You deserve to be sore since you ran over a petite girl like me like a charging rhino Choji." complained Ino.

Emi chuckled. "You sure talk a lot for a dead person Ino. Just be a nice, quiet corpse. Someone is coming."

A few seconds later Kiba appeared looking like he'd lost a fight. He asked "Is everyone _dead?_ "

"I'm alive." said Emi. "I'm here to receive the documents from the Red Team." She did the hand signs _Monkey, Boar, Rat_ at which Kiba relaxed and nodded.

Kiba handed off the documents to Emi and said, "Mission accomplished."

Emi nodded. "Right, I have to get these back to blue country. See you later." She said as she trotted over towards Konoha's east gate.

Kiba sat down to regain his breath and asked the others, "So who all is still alive in our class?"

Choji said, "I have no idea honestly but because we're dead we aren't allowed to tell you."

"I guess I could search your corpses for incriminating documents." said Kiba with a chuckle.

"If you start frisking my remains I _will_ kick your as mutt boy." growled Ino.

Kiba cringed. "It was just a joke Ino. I've got to get back to the Hokage Tower to report mission success. Enjoy the afterlife." With that he departed as well.

" _Being dead sucks!_ " complained Ino loudly.

"Just shut up Ino." said Choji. "I'm exhausted."

About that time Hinata arrived on a nearby rooftop. She'd watched the entire exchange with her byakugan. "So Emi has the documents now. (sigh) I guess there's truly no rest for the wicked." The exhausted Hyūga kunoichi in training took off after Emi.

 **…. _Hyūga Hinata-final move_ ….**

 **Close to the east gate**

Emi saw the east gate coming into view and relaxed. "Thank god, this has been a rough day." About that time three white shuriken came screaming down upon her. Emi was unable to avoid them but traced the trajectory and fired off a single blue kunai that hit Hinata square in the heart. Emi fell to the ground 'dead.'

She heard Hinata's voice in the distance. " _Damn it! If it had been anyone but Emi-chan I would have won! Arrrgh!_ "

Emi chuckled to herself. "At least I took Hinata-chan with me."

 _ **….Uzuki Yūgao-endgame….**_

 _ **Yūgao and Hayate's apartment**_

A certain (slightly tipsy) purple hair swords mistress was laughing herself sick as she read through the ANBU reports of her students slaughtering each other in every way imaginable. In the end Kiba and Sakura were the only ones that 'survived.' Better still, Sakura was captured and in an ANBU holding cell. The rest were getting checked over in the infirmary. Sai had cracked ribs and Sasuke by some fluke had a concussion. The rest of them weren't in great shape either. Only Team Red actually accomplished their mission but since the message never made it to Blue Country it was all in vain.

Hayate was really worried for his girlfriend's mental health. He was drinking too but the reports weren't _that_ funny…. _Yūgao's insane cackling went on for hours_ ….

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Shimura Danzo came in to talk with Hanako early Sunday morning while the kids were all still sleeping. Hinata, Maya and Naruto were worn out in the hospital and Hanabi and Aya slept in well past 6 A.M. regardless. He and two of his (hidden) ROOT guards entered and eventually found Hanako meditating in the Natsume Dojo. Danzo slid open the door and saw Hanako in the seiza position. She didn't move but said. "And what brings you and two of your drones here this morning Shimura Danzo? Surely you have no business with this old woman."

Danzo said, "I see you are as sharp as ever Hanako." as he slid the door shut behind him. He made a hand motion and his two ROOT Agents appeared in guard positions inside the door.

"I thought ROOT was part of the regular ANBU now." she said in a bored tone. (She obviously knew better). "So what brings you here?"

"I've come with a proposal for you Hanako." explained Danzo.

Hanako shook her head. "You're not my type so I can't marry you. I told you that back in The Second Shinobi War. Besides, the bandages are a real turn off. A girl has to have _some_ standards you know."

Danzo sputtered and got all flustered. ' _She'll never let me live that down_.' "I didn't mean a _marriage_ proposal, woman! I have a peace offering for young Uzumaki and a job offer for you." he said regaining some of his composure.

"A peace offering?" asked Hanako. "This wouldn't have something to do with your little drone revealing Naruto's Royal Heritage a couple of weeks ago would it?"

"It wasn't my intention-" started Danzo.

"Of course it was your intention Danzo." she said. "You provided the information to that boy and failed to tell him it was classified so Naruto would be prepared in case an enemy figured it out later. I **do** know how you think Shimura."

Danzo chuckled, "You haven't changed one bit Hanako –or should I say _ANBU Commander_ _Raven_." He pulled a book out of his robeswith great flourish. "This is a book on the Whirlpool style of taijutsu. I believe young Uzumaki could benefit from it."

He handed it to her and she skimmed it seeing it was genuine. "Very well, I shall pass this along to Naruto. I believe he will be pleased with it."

"Now, as to my job offer." said Danzo. "Hiruzen won't survive this upcoming conflict. He's become too old and too soft. We will need a new Hokage; a _strong_ Hokage."

"And no doubt you have chosen yourself for the position, correct?" asked Hanako sounding rather bored again. "Just get to the point and tell me what this job offer is so I can get back to my meditations."

' _What a woman! Few would dare to speak to me like that._ ' thought Danzo. ' _If only we were young again_ ….' "Very well, I wish for you to become a village elder when I become the Fifth Hokage."

Hanako asked, "Is that why you're using young Uchiha Shisui's sharingan eye you have hidden behind those bandages to subtly convince me Danzo?" Danzo was in shock. "Did you forget? The byakugan sees all. I'd recognize his chakra signature anywhere. I suppose that means you were the one that murdered him rather than Itachi correct?" She placed her had on a small pedestal her tea was sitting on and activated a seal.

Danzo found his chakra was disrupted and was draining away rapidly. He felt as if he was being crushed to the floor. "What….did you do Hanako?" he asked weakly.

"It's quite simple actually." said Hanako. "Young Naruto is a genius with seals and the entire Natsume compound is lined wall to wall with protective barriers. The seal I just activated disrupts chakra flow and quickly drains it until you die. It also increases gravity. Amazingly enough it's actually powered by the very chakra it's draining. In other words, the more chakra you have, the stronger the seal gets. He is quite an ingenious young man."

Danzo was wide eyed and sank to his knees. He saw his two ROOT Agents collapse to the floor unconscious. In desperation he went for his sword hidden in his cane but Hanako easy parried it with one of her kodachis. "Did you truly think you could win in kenjutsu match against me Danzo? Even without you being trapped in that seal I've outclassed you with a sword in every way for decades." She disarmed the rapidly weakening Danzo with ease. "It's sad to say but I acknowledge you're an extremely dangerous individual. Unlike Hiruzen I won't let you threaten those I love." She spun her kodachi and stabbed it deep into Danzo's brain straight through his bandages and his stolen sharingan eye….Shimura Danzo ' _The Shinobi of Darkness_ ' was dead.

 _ **….Hyūga Hanako-Checkmate….**_

Hanako cleaned her blade and said. "Rot in whatever hell you end up in Shimura Danzo. You won't be missed."

 **POSTSCRIPT:**

Before anyone asks, Danzo didn't use the Izanagi to escape because the seal caused chakra disruption and he had no access to his abilities. My original plan was to have and epic battle between Hanako and Danzo that probably would have leveled the Natsume Estate in the process. I just couldn't get it right. The best version I came up with was Danzo being kiiled and Hanako dying shortly thereafter of grievous wounds. It worked but I didn't want to kill the kids favorite Obaa-chan. In the end I decided to have Hanako beat Danzo at his own game; cunning. Once she lured him into her trap it was only a matter of time before he tried something illegal and trying to alter her mind with a powerful genjutsu certainly qualified. I hope the big Danzo fans out there aren't too disappointed in his manner of death.

This chapter was a bit odd to write. I originally had Yūgao's 'homework from hell' assignment planned as a chapter in and of itself and Danzo and Hiruzen's political game as a chapter as well. Neither were really long enough individually and since they were both war game themed they ended up together. See you next chapter. Blue out. 6/3/15


	11. Chapter 11

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well, another chapter in the books. Thanks everyone for their support. This last chapter had more reviews than any for this story so far. It's _really_ nice to hear from everyone. This chapter is called _Fallout_. Here's chapter 11:

Last time:

 _….She placed her had on a small pedestal her tea was sitting on and activated a seal._

 _Danzo found his chakra was disrupted and was draining away rapidly. He felt as if he was being crushed to the floor. "What….did you do Hanako?" he asked weakly._

 _"It's quite simple actually." said Hanako. "Young Naruto is a genius with seals and the entire Natsume compound is lined wall to wall with protective barriers. The seal I just activated disrupts chakra flow and quickly drains it until you die. It also increases gravity. Amazingly enough it's actually powered by the very chakra it's draining. In other words, the more chakra you have, the stronger the seal gets. He is quite an ingenious young man."_

 _Danzo was wide eyed and sank to his knees. He saw his two ROOT Agents collapse to the floor unconscious. In desperation he went for his sword hidden in his cane but Hanako easy parried it with one of her kodachis. "Did you truly think you could win in kenjutsu match against me Danzo? Even without you being trapped in that seal I've outclassed you with a sword in every way for decades." She disarmed the rapidly weakening Danzo with ease. "It's sad to say but I acknowledge you're an extremely dangerous individual. Unlike Hiruzen I won't let you threaten those I love." She spun her kodachi and stabbed it deep into Danzo's brain straight through his bandages and his stolen sharingan eye….Shimura Danzo ' The Shinobi of Darkness' was dead._

 _ **….Hyūga Hanako-Checkmate….**_

 _Hanako cleaned her blade and said. "Rot in whatever hell you end up in Shimura Danzo. You won't be missed."_

 **Chapter 11**

 **Konoha, Natsume Clan Home**

After the seal finished rendering the two ROOT Agents helpless from chakra exhaustion (Danzo obviously was a non-issue due to the amateur brain surgery); Hanako deactivated the seal and sheathed her kodachi. She then flared her chakra to summon ANBU. Hawk and Boar arrived and saw Hanako sitting in the seiza position she'd been in when Danzo arrived. "I'm afraid that Elder Shimura Danzo attacked me and I was forced to execute him in self defense." said Hanako calmly as she motioned towards Danzo's lifeless body. "I also incapacitated two of his private ROOT operatives and they are suffering from extreme chakra exhaustion. I ask that you summon ANBU Commander Dragon here as this requires his attention as well as the Hokage's."

Boar asked, "Who _are_ you Hyūga-san?" wondering how the relaxed but authoritative silver haired woman could have achieved this and remained so calm (and admitted to it all as if talking about the weather).

"I am Hyūga Hanako-sama. Both Dragon and the Hokage know of me….Are you going to just stand there gawking?! Get to it youngsters! An Elder is dead here!" she said authoritatively.

"Ummm….Yes ma'am!" said Boar as he vanished.

Hawk was examining the two ROOT agent's bodies. "What did you do to them Hanako-sama?" she asked.

"Your job is to secure them and remove any possible weapons Hawk. They are hostiles." said Hanako in an imperious tone. "Back in my day, ANBU knew their jobs. _Move_ child! It's standard procedure."

 **ANBU Headquarters**

While Hanako was telling ANBU Hawk how to do her job; Boar appeared outside Dragon's office and knocked. "Enter." said Dragon.

"Sorry to bother you sir but there's been an incident that requires immediate your attention." said Boar.

Dragon asked, "What is the nature of this incident that you could not handle yourself?"

Boar said nervously, "A woman named Hyūga Hanako-sama told us to retrieve you. She has executed Elder Danzo and captured two unregistered ROOT Agents…."

"Did you say Hanako-sama?" asked Dragon a bit fearfully.

Boar nodded "Yes sir, she is-"

"I know _exactly_ who she is!" said Dragon quickly. He donned his white cloak and said. "Take me to her _quickly_ Boar!"

"But she's just and old-" started Boar.

"She is not ' _just an old woman_ ' Boar!" choked out Dragon. "You will treat her with the same respect you would Hokage-sama! I was on the receiving end of her wrath only _once_ and I will _never_ forget it as long as I live! _Move_ man!"

Dragon and Boar appeared at the Natsume residence moments later and found Hawk securing the two ROOT Agents. They saw Hanako quietly sipping her tea. "Your reaction time was rather appallingly slow Dragon." she said disapprovingly. "Had I been an assassin I would have been long gone."

Dragon bowed. "A thousand pardons Hanako-sama; I was just stunned hearing Shimura Danzo was dead."

Hanako made a ' _tsk_ ' sound and said, "Have you informed the Hokage given how tardy you are?" She saw Dragon cringe and said coldly. "You took _all this time_ and didn't bother to inform the Hokage?! Get your ass over to the Hokage's residence and kick the old man out of bed if you have to! This is intolerable. Show some pride; you are ANBU!"

" _Yes ma'am!_ " squeaked Dragon as he vanished in a body-flicker.

 **Hokage's residence**

Sarutobi Hiruzen was brushing his teeth wondering what today would be like. With all of the problems Danzo, Koharu and Homura were stirring up he was thinking about making them _disappear_ but couldn't figure out a way to do it legally. If this had happened back in the Third Shinobi War he would have executed them for treason friends or otherwise. ' _It really sucks getting old_ ….' he pondered to himself. ' _I've really lost my edge_ …."

Hiruzen had the living daylights scared out of him when ANBU Commander Dragon appeared in the bathroom with him. "Forgive me Hokage-sama but we have an emergency!" said Dragon in a panicked tone.

"What is the nature of this emergency Dragon?" asked the Hokage trying to carry as much authority as an old man in his boxer shorts brushing his teeth could.

 _"ANBU Commander Raven_ –Hanako-sama- has put Elder Danzo to death and captured two of his agents." said Dragon. "She sent me to retrieve you immediately."

Hiruzen was stunned before he suddenly got a wide smile on his face. "Hanako-chan executed Danzo?"

"Yes sir. She stabbed him through the eye and into the brain with one of her blades from what I saw before I came to get you." said Dragon.

Hiruzen had stars in his eyes. In his mind a chibi Hiruzen was dancing wildly and confetti and alcohol was being spread everywhere. He patted Dragon on the shoulder and said in a Fatherly tone; "Go get a forensics team to remove Danzo's body to the ANBU morgue and keep any former ROOT Agents out of it. I'll make my way over to the Natsume residence and talk with Hanako-chan. I trust that's where she is?"

Dragon nodded. "She is in the dojo having tea Hokage-sama."

"Excellent, I'll join her once I'm dressed!" said Hiruzen almost giddily. "Meet me there once you've gathered a team." Dragon nodded and then vanished in a body flicker. Hiruzen got dressed and then got into a secret compartment that had some of the finest sake imported from Water Country. He hoped he could convince Hanako to celebrate with him later.

 **Natsume Clan Home**

The ANBU forensics team was hard at work.

"Look at this right arm! What the hell is it?" asked one medic.

"Well, the sharingan eye in his head is a total loss…." intoned another

"There's some kind seal on his body that I don't recognize at all." said Dove. "We'd best leave the body until it's been disabled. It could be a trap. Don't channel any chakra into it. Summon the sealing team."

When Hiruzen arrived he found both the sealing team and the forensics team there. Dragon was overseeing his people doing their jobs. "You've arrived Hokage-sama. We found some sort of seal we cannot identify on Danzo's body so we have not moved it yet."

"And the two ROOT Agents?" asked Hiruzen.

"They have been removed to the ANBU secure ward." said Dragon. "Their chakra was nearly drained to the point of death."

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow and went over to see Hanako who was quietly watching with her byakugan as she poured herself more tea. The ANBU had already been informed that it was fine if she watched. "See anything interesting Hanko-chan?"

"I see an old man and a bunch of children of questionable ability and discipline." said Hanako dryly with a slight smile.

Hiruzen cringed. "Ouch! Must you be so cruel Hanako-hime?"

Hanako quirked an eyebrow. "I'm afraid that my praise and criticisms are always given out when warranted."

"I see you haven't changed. You're as brutally honest as always." said the Hokage. "Can you tell me what happened to the ROOT members to put them in that state?"

"Naruto-kun made a seal over this room that has a number of interesting effects." said Hanako. "One of them is it drains someone caught in the seal of their chakra until they die. I didn't have to lift a finger to defeat those two. I decided they might have information of use so I decided to deactivate the seal at the last second and let them live."

Hiruzen sweat dropped. "You're kind and merciful as ever Hanako-hime." he said with sarcasm in his voice. "What of Danzo?"

Hanako explained, "Danzo had young Uchiha Shisui's Sharingan implanted in his eye socket and was using it to trying to use its genjutsu abilities to manipulate my thoughts into joining him. Judging by that and whatever abomination Danzo's right arm is I'd say it's obvious he looted the bodies of the dead Uchiha clan and may have had something to do with Shisui's murder rather than Itachi. The body was never found after all…."

Hiruzen asked, "What did he hope to gain by getting you to join him?"

"Danzo appointed himself to be your successor and wished for me to become a Village Elder in his new regime." answered Hanako. "Apparently Homura and Koharu didn't make the cut. At any rate; I saw through it with my byakugan and after crippling him with Naruto-kun's chakra drain seal I removed him and that eye from the playing field. He was annoying me with his pompous speech anyway." Hiruzen and Hanako both noticed every ANBU in the room was slack jawed and wide eyed behind their masks as they listened. Hiruzen didn't blame them but Hanako said in a tone that would freeze hell, " _Don't you children have work to do?_ " and they immediately jumped back to work.

Hiruzen stifled a snort. "Is there something to report ANBU?" The head seal master came forward and said, "We have been unable to decipher the nature of this seal on Danzo-sama's chest Hokage-sama. I fear it could be dangerous to move the body. It may be a trap seal of some sort."

Hiruzen came over and looked the seal over. It wasn't familiar to him although it looked similar to some he'd seen. Sighing, he said, "Retrieve Uzumaki Naruto from the Hospital assuming he hasn't escaped already. The boy is notorious for breaking out of there. Tell him the Hokage has a seal that needs to be cracked immediately." Dragon gestured and four ANBU on guard duty vanished to the hospital.

 **Konaha Hospital**

Hinata was sitting up in bed having breakfast. She was told she was going to be released once the doctor gave her a final checkup. Other than being a bit sore here are there and her head hurting from overdoing it with her byukugan yesterday she was fine. Hinata had already been informed she needed to rest her eyes all day Sunday. Hearing a knock on her door and expecting a nurse she said, "Come in please."

When the door opened she saw the last person she expected to see….her Father Hiashi. He said quietly, "May I come in Hinata-chan?"

' _Hinata-chan….I don't remember the last time he addressed me in such a familiar manner. It was probably before Kaa-chan died_ ….' Hinata turned to him with a stoic, very _Hyūga_ look. "I'm in no position to stop you. Why are you here Hiaishi-sama?"

Hiashi did his best to hide it but Hinata's greeting stung like a slap in the face. She didn't even address him as Tou-san or even Otou-sama as she did on formal occasions. Hiashi asked, "May I sit down Hinata-chan? I only want to talk to you."

Hinata emotionlessly pointed to one of the visitor's chairs and said, "You aren't supposed to be here Hiashi-sama. Don't you have a clan to run? I'm sure it's far more important than _wasting your time_ with me."

The Hyūga clan head remembered when he said he was _wasting his time_ with training Hinata and chose to train Hanabi instead. He deeply regretted it now. He felt moisture in his eyes and looked at his eldest daughter. She wasn't even looking at him. He saw her profile and realized how beautiful she was becoming….just like her Mother Himawari. "I see you are growing your hair out Hinata-chan. It suits you well." he said warmly as he reached out to touch her indigo hair.

Like lightning Hinata slapped Hiashi's hand away and closed four chakra points in the process as she recoiled from him. Her face was etched with fury and her byakugan glare was as fearsome as her Obaa-chan Hanako's was. " _You will not touch me!_ " she hissed in anger.

Hiashi cringed as he tried to get the feeling back in his hand. "Do you loathe your own Father's touch so Hinata-chan?" The heartbreak in his voice was evident. "I've wanted to see you every day since you left. You do not know how empty life is without my two precious daughters near me. Please talk to me Hinata-chan. I-"

Hinata's eyes locked with his. "What's with you calling me Hinata-chan anyway? It's been a decade since you addressed me as anything but 'Daughter' or on rare occasions 'Hinata.' Whatever your game is I'm not playing it Hiashi-sama." She cast her stare opposite of him out the window. "You've done enough to me this lifetime. I won't let you or anyone else hurt me or Hanabi-chan ever again!"

She heard Hiashi say in a broken voice, "Do you hate me so much Hinata-chan?"

When she turned back she saw the tears in Hiashi's normally proud eyes. Hinata said in an emotionless tone, "I don't hate you Hiashi-sama; I just no longer care. What my so called _family_ did to me was torture of the highest order and _you_ let it happen. Even if you were so oblivious that your own _child_ was dying; Ko should have informed you though I doubt you would have listened even if he did."

"That's not true!" bellowed Hiashi as the tears burst forth. "I love you and Hanabi-chan with all my heart! Finding out what happened to you and that Himawari-chan was….was murdered is destroying me inside! I hate myself! I want to die! But I want to make it up to you even more. Please Hinata-chan, your Father is begging you. Please come home and let me make it up to you! Ko even tried to commit suicide after you struck him down. He is inconsolable at his failure to protect you!"

"And I suppose he was _oblivious_ to my injuries as you _supposedly_ were?" asked Hinata.

Hiashi did his best to recompose himself for a minute though he still was obviously a wreck. "Ko informed me he was aware of the physical torture you were enduring but not the poison. The Elders informed him it was being done at my orders so there was no need to report it to me."

Hinata retorted angrily, "And he _believed_ them because he thought you were the kind of _monster_ that would actually sentence his own child to that kind of torture! _What does that tell you Hiashi-sama?!_ Even worse he didn't report it to the Hokage or anyone outside of the clan in a position to help me. Ko can go to hell in my eyes! I will shed no tears at his passing–and I _still_ don't believe you were totally unaware. But then again you were ignorant enough to let Kaa-chan die!"

" _I DIDN'T KNOW!_ " cried Hiashi. "You and Hanabi-chan are all I have left Hinata-chan. You are the heiress to the clan. I swear on my eyes and my name I will make it up to you if it takes me the rest of my life!" He breathed heavily for a few moments to calm himself down.

Several hospital staff members came rushing in at the yelling. Two ANBU were there as well.

"Just leave Hiashi-sama." said Hinata. "You are making a spectacle of yourself that is unbecoming of a clan as oh so _noble_ as the Hyūga."

Seeing the two ANBU Hiashi realized he had no choice but to leave. He said quietly, "I promise you Hinata-chan; if you will just give me _one_ chance I will make everything up to you and more; please."

"You've said your piece, just go away." said Hinata. Once she was sure Hiashi was escorted away by the ANBU Hinata broke down into tears and cried her heart out. She wanted to scream. It went on a few minutes until Maya and Naruto came in to comfort her before she finally calmed down…..

….

Naruto was cradling Hinata against his chest while she rested her eyes. She had asked him to just hold her for awhile and Naruto obliged. Seeing her crying really tore him up inside. About that time two ANBU arrived; Crow and Lizard. "Uzumaki Naruto, Hokage-sama has ordered us to retrieve you to crack a seal of urgent nature so please come with us."

Naruto growled and was about to retort that Hinata was more important when Maya said, "It's Hokage-sama's orders Naruto-kun. You need to go." Hinata nodded in agreement and gave him a small squeeze which Naruto returned.

"All right. Let me get some clothes on." Naruto said with a sigh. (He was still in his hospital gown with a robe). Ten minutes later he was decked out in full combat gear along with his sealing supplies. "Let's go." he said.

"What happened to the atrocious orange kid?" asked Crow jokingly.

"You just went up near the top of my shit list Crow; you might find some _interesting_ surprises next week." said Naruto with a bone chilling smile that showed his lengthened canines.

Crow said sweating, "Sorry Uzumaki; my bad."

"Whatever; let's just go." said Naruto.

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Naruto arrived with Crow and Lizard. He saw Hiruzen and Hanako talking. "What's up Hanako Obaa-chan; Hokage-jiji?"

Hanako started snickering in spite of her best efforts. "He calls you Hokage-jiji _to your face?!_ "

Hiruzen sweat dropped and tuned out Hanako's barely hidden laughter. "Naruto-kun, that body over there has a seal on his chest that may be potentially dangerous. Our ANBU seal masters can't figure it out. Will you please have a look at it?" Naruto looked at the body. He saw the face was covered but he'd need to see it to make sure he hadn't missed anything. Fortunately (or unfortunately) Naruto stumbled across one on Orochimaru's hidden labs when he was twelve. It was sad to say but a large part of Naruto's innocence died that day. Despite the trauma that lasted a while; after what Naruto saw in that hellacious lab seeing a corpse wasn't a big deal. He heard Hiruzen say to his ANBU. "I want you all to give your full cooperation to Naruto-kun."

The ANBU seemed uneasy with the idea of letting a fourteen year old academy student defuse a potential bomb when they couldn't but Naruto had them strip the body and he started deftly applying seals with his ink and brush over the whole corpse before he said "Seal!" All the seals Naruto added to the body glowed and then vanished and a trigram based seal appeared. The seal masters all gasped at both the speed and accuracy the boy possessed. "It seems this seal is based on the Four Symbols Seal that draws chakra out of something." said Naruto. "However, the outer pattern would reverse the effect causing it to draw in everything around it. It's a suicide seal."

Naruto turned to Hanako. "Hanako Obaa-chan; you didn't happen to use the chakra disruption/drainage seal on this old man's body before you ran him through did you?"

"That I did Naruto-kun." said Hanako pleased that he'd figured it out.

"That's good Obaa-chan because if you hadn't you and this dojo would have been eradicated by this seal when he died." said Naruto seriously. "Let me remove this and then you people can figure out that freaky arm." Naruto quickly painted a three point seal over the four point seal and disrupted it. Then he painted and additional four point counter seal which removed the entire sealing array. "There, it's done. This body is harmless now." Then Naruto added. "Just what I wanted to do; look at a shriveled, ancient, wrinkled corpse this morning right after breakfast. Yuck. I would be interested in looking over the notes used to create this though. It's nothing incredible but it is innovative."

Hiruzen smiled, "I believe that you could benefit from studying Danzo's notes along with our ANBU seal masters Naruto-kun. You could increase your sealing knowledge. I believe that would be an appropriate reward for your hard work along with A-ranked mission pay. I think you might be able to shed some light on what our seal masters can't in Danzo's library."

Naruto looked at the Hokage. "That's Danzo the mummy man? I didn't even recognize him without all the bandages. What did he do that made you kill him Hanako Obaa-chan?"

"He annoyed me." said Hanako matter of factly as the whole room filled with grim silence. Then she said. "You did very well Naruto-kun. I am proud of you. You didn't even swear once."

Naruto smiled shyly; he wasn't used to receiving praise from anybody and hearing it from his favorite Obaa-chan made it special.

 **Konoha Hospital**

Sai awoke feeling the back of his tongue burning briefly where the restriction seal Danzo placed there was. It was a strange sensation and then he realized he was in a hospital bed. ' _The last thing I remember was Cockroach's foot coming towards my face after she sent me through that stand with a kick to the ribs. Judging by the smile on her face she seemed to be enjoying it too; I wonder if my team accomplished its mission. Pig isn't that competent but Bug Boy is. Perhaps he was able to pull though._ '

 **ANBU Prison**

"You're free to go Haruno. Here's your stuff. Don't forget to fill out your after action report for your sensei. You might want to shower too." chuckled Anko as she led Sakura out of the ANBU prison after a cozy overnight stay. Her hair was matted and she had bags under her eyes.

' _Sensei is evil, diabolical and a mad woman! We should kick her ass Shannaro!_ ' said Inner Sakura.

Sakura shook head mentally. ' _Are you kidding? Sensei would beat us to a pulp! Even Naruto and the other troublemakers behave in her class! She must hold something over them. I wonder how our team did_ …."

 **Konoha Hospital**

A much calmed down Hinata was released from the hospital along with Maya at nine in the morning. "I wonder if Naruto-kun is home yet Maya-chan." said Hinata conversationally to her best (female) friend.

"I don't know Hinata-chan." said Maya. "Look, there's Ino." The two girls went over to see the sassy blonde kunoichi only to find she seemed uneasy around Hinata. "What's wrong with you Ino? You look more nervous than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs." said the silver haired girl.

"I just thought Hinata was angry with me." said Ino. "Whatever I did I'm really sorry Hinata."

Hinata raised a perplexed eyebrow. "Why would you think I was angry at you Ino? I know we're not _best_ friends but we are friends, yes?" Then Hinata's eyes narrowed. "You didn't do something that would _anger_ me did you Ino?"

"No, no! Honest!" said Ino sweating. "The way you were after me yesterday frightened me. I thought you were trying to kill me or something for something I did in the past."

Hinata said, "Ino, you were on the enemy team and running like a frightened rabbit. I was trying to eliminate you but I had to break off and rendezvous with Maya-chan. I'm not mad or anything and it was nothing personal. Personally I would rather have taken out Sai for calling me 'White Eyes' all the time but Maya-chan had already wrecked him good.

"Oh." said the relieved blonde. "I'm glad we're still friends then. I seriously thought you had a death wish for me."

After a much happier Ino trotted away, Maya said, "What a weird girl. Of course; she _does_ like Sasuke." Maya just shook her head.

"She's been rather interested in Naruto-kun lately as well." said Hinata with slight irritation in her voice.

"I noticed that too Hinata-chan." said Maya. "Hopefully she'll back off before we have to lay down the law."

By lunchtime all the kids were filling out their after action reports. On the front was a standard after action report like one to present to the Hokage. On the back were more pointed questions such as:

Did you formulate a battle plan? _Red and White teams formed plans, Blue and Black teams had rough plans that fell completely apart._

Did you protect your teammates? _Emi and Choji cringed; they'd been laughing hysterically at Sasuke's death-and left him with the bill for their lunches._

Did you stay organized and have a plan to meet up in case you were separated? Shino _and Ino went pale; it had been dumb luck they'd met in the food court when they were hungry later._

How good was your teamwork? _Red team and White team felt they did okay, Blue team was worried; and Black's teamwork was nonexistent_.

Did you make an effort to get along with your teammates? _Sasuke and Sai claimed yes but they were delusional_ ….

Homework was a sobering experience….Everyone was dreading their sensei reading these reports but didn't dare gloss them over. After action reports could be used as court documents later so they had to be concise, precise and above all, _absolutely truthful_.

 **Shimura Danzo's residence**

Naruto was carefully disarming multiple seal traps while the Anbu were cleaning the place out. He'd already been informed that Commander Dragon was writing him and excuse so he could fill out his report for Yūgao later. There was still a faint smell of sewage in the house but aside of that the work wasn't too difficult. Masses of files and papers were being hauled out.

After a few hours the ANBU found there were more secret passages that were filled with traps than most of the village combined. Dragon saw Naruto disarming the security seal to Danzo's main office. He said, "Good work Uzumaki. Your help has been invaluable. I'm going to talk to Hokage-sama and Yūgao. I could use someone like you on call. For all that matter, I wonder if you would be willing to teach fuinjutsu courses to ANBU. You would be well paid of course."

"I don't even know what level your ANBU seal masters are at Dragon so I don't know how I'd go about teaching anybody." said Naruto uncertainly.

Dragon said, "Just think on it. We haven't had a seal master of your caliber since before you were born."

Naruto said, "I thought Jiraiya-sama was supposed to be good at seals."

"He is, make no mistake. But the stuff you're doing is way beyond Jiraiya-sama's skill level." Dragon pondered a moment. "Say, you wouldn't be working with the Arashi Seal Company that just exploded onto the scene would you? They could use a man like you."

"I _am_ the Arashi Seal Company Dragon; but that is classified per Hokage-sama. I trust you won't tell anyone?" asked Naruto.

After Dragon got over his shock he said, "Just you; all by yourself?"

"That's correct." affirmed Naruto. "People wouldn't buy the seals if they knew it had something to do with the _Kyubi brat_ now would they? Letting this leak could lead to very _bad_ consequences; get my drift?"

"My lips are sealed." said Dragon seeing the boy in a whole new light. ' _This kid is a genius!_ ' the ANBU Commander thought to himself. He'd recently bought a (very expensive) floor cleaning seal and his wife was _very_ happy. Considering all the sex he was getting since then Dragon thought it was the best investment he'd made in _years_. He decided to ask the Hokage if he could take Uzumaki around the village to increase their security seals and defenses. If an invasion was coming in eight months then it would be vital to reinforce all the seals that protected the village walls. They hadn't been seriously overhauled since the Third Shinobi War –and that was by the boy's mother; Uzumaki Kushina. It seemed that brilliance with fuinjutsu ran in the family….The more he thought about it; the more Dragon wanted Uzumaki's help. He wondered if the boy could be inducted into ANBU early….

 **Inuzuka Clan Home**

"So you are filling out an after action report runt?" asked Inuzuka Hana (Age 18) to her little brother Kiba.

"Yeah, I'm trying to figure out how to put things." answered Kiba "Yūgao sensei is an ANBU so she's pretty strict."

"Hmmm….well, I guess I could help you." she said. "Let me see your rough draft." Hana carefully looked over the report and said, "So you lost your teammates and Akamaru but completed the mission. I was wondering how you got so beat up. Looks like you had a rough fight." She started underlining certain parts. "While this stuff is interesting it doesn't belong in the report. The nature of your teammate Shikamuru's death was appropriate but mentioning his last words isn't. Also, just say you were ambushed by Team White. You don't need to say that they attacked you like rabid pit bull terriers."

"I was trying to get the feeling across Hana-nee." said Kiba.

"After action reports are about facts, not feelings Kiba." said Hana. "They are supposed to be dispassionate and clinical. If your commander has further questions then they will ask."

Kiba was soon busily rewriting his report the _right_ way….

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Maya and Hinata got home only to find Aya and Hanabi were up and ANBU were guarding the dojo. Hinata asked, "What's going on at the dojo Hanabi-chan?"

Hanabi answered, "We don't know Hinata nee-chan. We've been trying to find out but they won't tell us."

"Is Hanako Obaa-chan okay?" asked Maya worriedly.

Aya replied, "Obaa-chan is fine. She sent out a shadow clone to make sure we had breakfast and told us everything was okay and to be patient. –Oh, and she told Hanabi-chan and I to tell you to do your homework."

Maya and Hinata sweat dropped. "Kami forbid we get a break…." said Maya. "Where do you suppose Naruto-kun is Hinata-chan?"

"Doing seal work I suppose." said Hinata. "His skills seem quite in demand lately."

Soon the two girls were doing their reports. "I'd say our Teamwork and planning was pretty good but we lost Sakura early." said Maya. "Maybe we should go over to her house and do these reports as a group."

"That's a good idea Maya-chan. Since we are a team we should check each other's work." said Hinata. After the two girls informed Hanabi and Aya they were going to Haruno Sakura's residence they took off.

 **Shimura Danzo's residence**

Naruto was berating one of ANBU's seal masters. "Seriosly? Seriously you call yourself a _seal master?!_ Any _idiot_ could bypass this seal!" said Naruto irritably as they looked at a door seal. "You just have to bypass it through disruption; you don't have to _remove_ it. It's obviously keyed to Danzo's blood. Give me that brush and ink!" Naruto examined the said brush and ink and exclaimed. "This is low quality _crap!_ Did you pick this garbage up at a discount craft store? This brush isn't good enough for house painting!" Naruto was obviously steamed by now. He held up his own brush. "See this? _This_ is a brush! It is a genuine _sumi-e_ brush designed for calligraphy and ink wash painting. You have to mail order them from the Fire Capital. And the ink you're using doesn't even have a decent medium in it for chakra. The ink I use has thirty percent human blood in it as a medium to conduct chakra perfectly. Next to pure blood itself this is ideal. Who was the _moron_ that taught you sealing ANBU?"

Dragon was impressed. Obviously the boy was a perfectionist. (Who would have guessed?) Dragon would have told Uzumaki to calm down but the boy was obviously on a roll (and Hanako-sama apparently had rubbed off on him).

Naruto gave the Anbu back his paint and brush. He face palmed and turned to the door they couldn't get to open and channeled chakra into it so the seal would show. He turned to the (now six) ANBU seal masters watching. "Observe a simple disruption seal." said Naruto. He whipped out his ink and brush and fluidly applied a disruption seal in a matter of seconds and said "Seal!" The symbols glowed and the previously impenetrable door swung open on its own. Naruto turned to his audience. "See? It's quite simple. This is the basics of the basics for chunin level sealing which is level four. How many of you knew this?"

"…."

"…."

No one raised their hand and Naruto said in a disappointed tone, "If you don't know this then you are not a seal master. I don't know what you are but this is embarrassing."

Dragon knew basic fuinjutsu but this boy had just effortlessly applied a very complex seal and said it was nothing! By hook or by crook he was going to enlist Uzumaki to teach his seal masters. ' _Note to self: talk to Hokage-sama. I can't let this opportunity go to waste!_ ' thought the ANBU Commander. Then he heard Naruto ranting about the quality of one of the seal master's calligraphy and compared it to an ink blot test. ' _Yes, Hanako-sama has definitely rubbed off on him_.'

Eight hours later Danzo's home was cleared out and Naruto broke over three fourths of the seals by himself while ranting and raving about ' _utter incompetence_ ' the whole way. If Dragon hadn't been in charge of his seal masters and their morale he would have found the idea of an Academy student showing ANBU how to do their jobs amusing in a twisted way. Unfortunately he was realistic and utterly appalled instead. This was just _sad_.

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Naruto was welcomed home by everybody and confided in Hanako Obaa-chan how shocked he was at the supposed ' _seal masters_ ' ANBU had. She chuckled and said, "You are very gifted with fuinjutsu Naruto-kun; don't judge them too harshly. On the other hand I believe you could teach them a great deal."

"I'd have to teach them from the ground up Obaa-chan." said Naruto. "Half of them can hardly write correctly. If your calligraphy is wrong then everything built upon it is too."

Hanako smiled. "I have no doubt ANBU Dragon and Hiruzen will be discussing it in detail Naruto-kun. Now that you've vented I believe you still have unfinished homework to do. Off you go now. You have an early day tomorrow."

Naruto was just dreading Yūgao-sensei's reaction to the reports. Since they lost two team members he wondered if Red team would even pass….

POSTSCRIPT:

A lot of character interaction this chapter. Next chapter the twelve students will receive their grades and Naruto's mad skillz with seals will come back to haunt him. The Hyūga family matters are still far from resolved and Hinata seems to have a bit of a grudge against her Father. Danzo is resting quietly in the morgue. How will Hiruzen handle that situation? See you next chapter. Blue out. 6/6/15


	12. Chapter 12

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well, 20 seems to be the magic number. Over 200 reviews, follows and favorites as well 20,000 views. I must be doing _something_ right. As an aside, I really need to get back to my other stories since the natives are getting restless. This chapter is called _Getting Schooled_. There's not a lot of action this chapter but we do get to see Naruto in a new role. Here's chapter 12:

Last time:

 ** _Natsume Clan Home_**

 _Naruto was welcomed home by everybody and confided in Hanako Obaa-chan how shocked he was at the supposed '_ _seal masters_ _' ANBU had. She chuckled and said, "You are very gifted with fuinjutsu Naruto-kun; don't judge them too harshly. On the other hand I believe you could teach them a great deal."_

 _"_ _I'd have to teach them from the ground up Obaa-chan." said Naruto. "Half of them can hardly write correctly. If your calligraphy is wrong then everything built upon it is too."_

 _Hanako smiled. "I have no doubt ANBU Dragon and Hiruzen will be discussing it in detail Naruto-kun. Now that you've vented I believe you still have unfinished homework to do. Off you go now. You have an early day tomorrow."_

 _Naruto was just dreading Yūgao-sensei's reaction to the reports. Since they lost two team members he wondered if Red team would even pass…._

 **Chapter 12**

 **Konoha Ninja Academy, Monday 4 A.M.**

 **"** ** _You all FAIL!_** **"** said Yūgao in a none too gentle manner. "The whole point of this homework was a _team_ _building_ exercise whether you accomplished your mission or not! Red and White Teams did display the minimum necessary but Blue and Black teams had **_NO_** teamwork at all! I will be reviewing your individual reports but I already have read ANBU's reports on your actions and they were atrocious! **_I am SO disgusted!_** **"**

So began a day filled with warm, fuzzy feelings at the Academy's Advance Genin Class….It wasn't until hours later when they had breakfast that Yūgao got off her tirade. Rather than theory the whole morning was filled with physical exercises until most of them were ready to collapse. An angry Yūgao-sesel was very scary indeed….

 **Hokage's Office 7 A.M.**

After Naruto's display of fuinjutsu mastery; ANBU Commander Dragon was practically frothing at the mouth to get Naruto on his sealing team or at the very least getting Naruto to instruct ANBU's own seal masters. "Hokage-sama, Uzumaki Naruto is a true sealing genius! I _need_ him on my team! If not that then at least let me have him teach others."

Hiruzen hid his smile at his surrogate grandson being praised. "I'm well aware of his mastery with fuinjutsu. The Arashi Seal Company already has close to one hundred seals patented that Naruto created all by himself. Frankly; he has enough money to live in luxury the rest of his life right now. He gets it from his Mother Kushina. Now; you actually want him, _an Academy student_ , to teach your ANBU?"

"There is no doubt that the boy eclipses even Jiraiya-sama at seals Hokage-sama." said Dragon. "I want him personally to inspect and upgrade the defensive seals around the village and on the walls. They haven't been upgraded since the Third Shinobi War. If he's willing to just teach the _basics_ to my fuinjutsu masters it would be a huge benefit to our forces."

Sarutobi nodded. "I agree about Jiraiya and I'm sure the boy would be willing to upgrade the village defenses but the report I asked him to write on the ANBU Sealing Team is rather….despairing. I believe he used the term ' _Worthless no hopers_ ' in reference to them."

Dragon cringed. "That bad huh? Is there any way you could _order_ him to teach my people?"

The Hokage looked thoughtful. "Considering I ended up dressed as an over the hill geisha the last time he got mad at me I'm inclined to say it would be better for _you_ to ask Dragon. If that fails I will request it of him."

" _I_ was dressed as a clown sir." said Dragon shivering at the memory.

"It's _your_ idea Dragon in spite of the fact I'm in favor of it." said Hiruzen. "I would advise you to ask nicely rather than attempt to order him though. He seemed quite riled at the quality of ANBU's Fuinjutsu Team. Actually _appalled_ might be a better term.

Dragon hung his head and said, "Yes, sir."

 **Konoha Ninja Academy 8 A.M**

 **Breakfast….**

"Well, it could have been worse." said an exhausted Maya after a morning of complete and utter hell.

"Yeah, she could have thrown us into a pit of sharks instead of just water and a mud pit." grumbled Hinata.

Ino, Sakura and Shikamaru barely had the energy to eat whereas Choji and Emi were packing it away as if it was their last meal.

"We got off pretty easy Naruto." said Kiba. "We got ripped new ones but the way Yūgao sensei reamed the Blue and Black Teams made me almost wet myself if fear."

"Yeah, our team and Maya-chan's team both got off lightly in relation." said Naruto. "I blame Sasuke-chan and Sai personally. Everyone else gets along well enough. I can't believe that almost all of us ' _died_ ' though. You got lucky and lived but Sakura? Not so much. I've been in ANBU prison lots of times for pranks and it's not pleasant I tell you."

"I had no idea you were a jailbird Naruto-kun." said Emi between bites.

"Oh yeah, the ANBU down there know me well." said Naruto with a chuckle. "I'm sure that it was really scary for Sakura though. The first time I was in I was seven so I've developed an immunity to it."

" _You were seven?!_ " asked Emi in shock. " _What did you do?"_

Naruto smiled. "An old man knocked me down and called me vermin so I climbed up on a roof and took a major piss on him. After his golden shower it turned out he was some sort of dignitary from the Fire Capital so Jiji locked me up." Naruto laughed. "That's when I feel I truly launched my career of evil and became the _Prankster King from Hell_. Ah, good times. Shame I've had to straighten up my act."

Hinata shook her head in amusement while Maya laughed….

 **Hokage's Office, Noon**

So far, Hiruzen was having a capital day given Danzo was dead (not that he'd announced it yet). His ' _trusted advisors'_ Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu arrived and Hiruzen sat down with them for tea to discuss things.

Koharu said, "You seem so relaxed Hiruzen; I haven't seen you this way since you retired the first time." while Homura nodded in agreement.

"Funny you put it that way." said the Third Hokage. "It's good to sit back and relax with friends now and again. I have to admit I've been a bit tense lately with the massive smear campaign that you helped launch against me along with Danzo."

Both Village Elders got extremely tense. Koharu said, "Whatever do you mean Hokage-sama?" as perspiration formed on her brow.

"Oh come now." said Sarutobi conversationally. "Did you think I wouldn't know that Danzo intended to replace me as Hokage and that you supported him and his little scheme? Rumors have been flying among our shinobi forces that I'm too old and too weak to lead Konoha and that I should step down in favor of Danzo because of the upcoming conflict. You both voiced this opinion to several on the Jonin Council in private and have tried to contact Jiraiya on Danzo's instructions because you know Jiraiya doesn't trust or like Danzo in any way."

"T-that's ridiculous Hiruzen!" said Homura. "We've been comrades and teammates for decades! What would Tobirama-sensei say?"

"He'd say I should put you two to death for treason against the Hokage and Konoha." said Hiruzen in an iron tone. "You two have become bloated and corrupt with the power you wield and I've decided to do something about it."

"But Hiruzen-" choked out Koharu.

"It's a shame really." said the Third Hokage. "I _do_ realize I've lost my edge; I _am_ and old man. My successor Senju Tsunade will be here soon; within days actually. I knew you two would oppose Tsunade and stand in her way….Oh dear, are you two not feeling well? ….Paralyzed perhaps? Must have been that tea….Former _ANBU Commander_ _Raven_ executed Danzo for high treason yesterday. I don't suppose either of you had any idea he had Uchiha Shisui's sharingan implanted in his eye socket or that he had an arm made up of the First Hokage's cells with multiple sharingans implanted in it either? It was an interesting autopsy report to read. Our medics suspect it has something to do with Orochimaru given his previous experiments with Hashirama-sama's cells."

The two advisors keeled over out of their chairs with their tea cups clattering to the floor. They could no longer see Sarutobi from their positions on the floorboards though they could certainly _hear_ him. Hiruzen said, "Don't you two worry one little bit my _dear_ friends; you'll be dealt with by _my_ loyal ANBU before you are put to death. Since treason and execution are such _ugly_ words you will be recorded as honorably retired in favor of Tsunade's reign as the Fifth Hokage. No one will even know that you're gone. ANBU, take these traitors to the holding cells until further notice, Anko and Ibiki will deal with them in turn. They will be put to death later. Everything mentioned in this conversation is an S-Class secret. The penalty for revealing it is termination. Take them away." With that, the ANBU whisked Homura and Koharu away….

After they were gone, Hiruzen sat back down and sighed. He truly felt his years. He remembered the good times when Homura and Koharu (and even Danzo) were his trusted friends. Hanako appeared from the wall behind him and put her hand on his shoulder supportively. "It had to be done Hokage-sama." she said without preamble.

"I know Hanako….but it's still painful knowing they betrayed me." said Sarutobi. "I knew it deep down inside but the papers we seized that Danzo kept damned them. Have you considered my offer to be one of Tsunade's advisors? I know she holds immense respect for you Hanako."

Hanako sighed. "I am considering it Hiruzen but remember I have a house full of children that need my guidance and I have to keep the entire Hyūga clan at bay. I won't let them touch a hair on either of my granddaughter's heads."

"You're training young Hinata to be the next _Raven_ aren't you?" asked Sarutobi.

Hanako nodded. "She has been treated cruelly ever since her dear Mother Himawari was murdered." said Hanako. Her eyes turned hard. "I will make sure Hinata-chan is able to defend herself against _gods_ if need be." Hanako sighed. "I have to go Sarutobi. Call upon me if you need my assistance." Hiruzen nodded and patted her hand before she vanished in a body flicker.

 **Fire Country –Road to Konoha**

"Another three days and we'll be in Konoha Mito-chan. Are you excited?" asked Jiraiya.

Mito was riding on Jiraiya's shoulders. "You bet Tou-san! I can't wait to see where you and Kaa-chan grew up. Is it as big as you say?"

"It's pretty big." said Shizune. "I think it will be nice to see home again; don't you think so Tsunade-sama?"

The blonde nodded. "It will be interesting to see how things have changed Shizune. An entire generation has grown up in our absence. I hope we are accepted well."

"Don't worry; you and Tou-san are awesome Kaa-chan!" said Mito excitedly." Everything will be great. Living in the home you grew up in with your Jiji is going to be exciting. Is everything really made of wood he made like you said?"

Tsunade smile at her daughter's exuberance. "Yep, every last piece of the Senju Compound was created by Hashirama Jiji. He would have just loved you. I know he'd have spoiled you rotten as much as your Tou-san does."

The group was in high spirits. Even Tonton was happy and it showed.

 **Natsume Clan Home 5 P.M.**

Hyūga Natsu (age 19) was a very nervous young woman. She'd been sent to the Natsume household by Hiashi-sama to help around the house and to take care of Hanabi-sama. In all honesty; the kunoichi/maid would have felt safer marching into Kumo buck naked. She didn't know if Hanabi-sama would accept her and Hiashi-sama said his meeting with Hinata-sama had been _very_ negative. She also knew Hyūga Ko had been demolished by an angry Hinata-sama and had a healthy bit of fear of the girl since Ko was _not_ a weakling. Natsu could barely pull of a thirty two palms on a good day and apparently Hinata pulled it off flawlessly. Ko was a wreck when he got home. Rumors that the Hyūga Heiress was a weakling were obviously a lie. Worst of all was Hyūga Hanako-sama. Natsu knew the older woman could destroy her in a heartbeat. She truly _feared_ Hanako-sama.

Now; here Natsu was acting as a gift of sorts to foster goodwill from the Hyūga household to Hinata-sama and the others living in the Natsume household. She wasn't a spy or anything but she _was_ to convey that Hiashi-sama wanted to make amends. Truthfully Natsu also missed young Hanabi-sama. The girl was dear to her and she would be happy to take care of her rambunctious little charge again. Now all she had to do was convince Hanako-sama, Hinata-sama and Natsume-sama that she wasn't a spy or threat of any kind and to let her live there as a house maid. Everything was being paid for by Hiashi-sama in advance but Natsu was worried they'd think she was an enemy was in their midst. Natsu gathered her courage and timidly knocked on the front door….

It was dinner time and the children were chowing down on their meals when they heard a knock. Hanako briefly activated her byakugan before she went back to eating and said, "Ignore it." Three attempts later Natsu was feeling frazzled and Hanako said to Naruto, "Please answer the door Naruto-kun and know the woman there is Hyūga Natsu. She dislikes you for your burden so be prepared to remove her person from Natsume grounds if necessary." Naruto sat down his chopsticks and went to answer the door.

Hanabi was surprised and said, "Obaa-chan? Why is Natsu-san here?"

"We will find out when the time comes." said Hanako. "Go ahead and finish your dinner." Hanabi nodded and went back to eating. Hanako noticed a rather hardened look in Hinata's eyes but didn't comment on it.

Naruto heard a fourth set of knocks at the front door and opened it. He saw an attractive young Hyūga woman in a maid's outfit with a forehead protector. The woman seemed to stare at him in shock before she regained her Hyūga composure. "Ummm….Hello Uzumaki-san." she said lamely.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "So you're Hyūga Natsu; I heard you hate the _Kyubi brat_. What brings you out here to the Natsume Clan Home? If you're here to see Hanako-sama or Hinata-chan they are eating right now so you'll have to deal with **_me_**."

Natsu recoiled a bit at Naruto's killing intent and said. "I've come in peace Uzumaki-san. I have no quarrel with you I assure you. I bring a message from Hiashi-sama and I'd like to deliver it to Hanako-sama or Hinata-sama personally."

"Then you'll have to wait out here until they're done Hyūga-san." said Naruto flatly. "I won't let you hurt Hinata-chan anymore."

"Ummm…. Aren't you going to invite me in?" asked Natsu uncertainly.

"No, people who have caused Hinata-chan pain and hate me for my burden can sit outside." answered Naruto harshly. "When Hanako-sama is done with her meal she may come out to see you. Hinata-chan might also but considering how she dealt with that Ko character you'd probably be safer with Hanako-sama." Then he closed the door in her face.

' _This is going from bad to worse. I didn't expect Uzumaki-san to be here. Is he a dinner guest or some kind of lodger?_ ' she wondered. ' _I'd hate to see him influencing Hanabi-sama in some way. He was just rude_.'

About that time ANBU Dragon arrived in a body flicker. Natsu jumped a bit (It wasn't every day the ANBU Commander appeared in front of you). He looked at Natsu briefly and said "Are you lost Hyūga-san?" Natsu silently shook her head 'no' to his question. Dragon nodded. "Good, maybe Naruto is home." He knocked on the door loudly and Naruto answered.

" _I told yo_ \- Oh, Dragon. What brings you by?" asked Naruto.

"I have a business proposition for you Uzumaki." said Dragon. "I've already cleared it with Hokage-sama. It regards your particular area of expertise."

Naruto said, "I see, come on in where we can discuss this in private." as he showed ANBU Dragon in.

' _Uzumaki is on friendly terms with the ANBU Commander and he lives here with Hanabi-sama? What is going on?_ ' wondered Natsu.

 **Inside…**.

Naruto informed Hanako and the others that Natsu was sitting on the porch and he would be chatting with ANBU Dragon. After that Naruto sat down with Dragon in the office where he did his fuinjutsu work. The first thing Dragon noticed was the office was completely neat, clean and organized. _It was spotless_. He recalled the Fuinjutsu Team's area was covered in paper and had ink all over the place. It was a _pit_. _This did not bode well_.

"So what brings you by Dragon? Need a seal deciphered?" asked Naruto conversationally.

"Actually, I have a favor to ask. You would be well paid for it I assure you." said Dragon with a bit of nervousness in his voice.

Naruto narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What is this _favor_ Dragon?"

Dragon gulped. "Your expertise in the sealing arts is _astounding_." he said trying to stroke Naruto's ego a bit. "I want you to teach my Fuinjutsu Team and a few others in the sealing arts to the point they are competent."

"…."

"…."

"You aren't serious are you?" asked Naruto.

"I'm as serious as a heart attack." said Dragon. "I need your help Naruto and they do too obviously. All I want is to get them up to snuff. I'm not expecting them to be on you or Jiraiya-sama's level."

Naruto closed his eyes and thought for a few minutes. "I have twelve hour days in the advanced genin course and homework on top of that. I am in the Academy. Talk to Yūgao-sensei. I'm not putting my ninja career on the line for a bunch of _talentless, incompetent, bumbling_ -"

Dragon raised his hand to ward off a tirade. (Seriously, Naruto _really_ got his personality from the Red Hot Habenaro!) "I'm not asking you to put off the Academy. I'll talk to Yūgao. I'm thinking an hour a day and maybe two hours Saturday if we can work it out."

"What's the pay?" asked Naruto bluntly.

"Ongoing B-rank until they are up to par plus a bonus for each that graduates your course." answered Dragon.

Naruto shook his head. "Teaching that lot of six idiots is ongoing A-rank, no less." Naruto's tone was absolutely resolute.

"Ummm….actually there are eleven candidates and I'd have to talk to Hokage-sama to get A-rank authorization." said Dragon.

"Then it sounds like you need to talk to Hokage-jiji and Yūgao-sensei then." said Naruto. "I'll show you out."

' _Gee. I had no idea that the village prankster could be such a hard ass. I guess it's because of it being about fuinjutsu_.' thought Dragon. ' _I guess I'd best talk to Yūgao and Hokage-sama_.'

 **Meanwhile….**

While Dragon was talking with Naruto; Hyūga Natsu was in the front room facing the firing squad, errr….Hanako, Hinata and Maya. The tension was unbearable. "H-Hiashi-sama sends his warmest greetings." said Natsu. She couldn't read Hanako-sama at all. Hinata-sama had a frosty look that chilled her to the bone and Maya looked….curious.

"So what is your _actual_ reason for coming here Natsu-san?" asked Hinata coldly.

"Hiashi-sama has sent me to resume my duties as Hanabi-sama's caretaker and to serve as a maid in the Natsume household." said Natsu nervously. "He has made generous financial arrangements so I will not be any sort of burden and I promise to serve the Natsume household well and take care of Hanabi-sama to my best ability. He wishes to mend the broken bridges between himself and his beloved daughters Hinata-sama."

"Don't you mean _burned bridges_ Natsu-san?" asked Hinata forcefully. "I won't have you _spying_ in this household as a flunky for Hiashi-sama or trying to turn Hanabi-chan against us. Do you take us for _fools?!_ " Hinata's anger was palpable and the killing intent she was throwing of frightened Natsu.

' _Who would have thought Hinata-sama was so strong? She was always so kind, shy and gentle. What happened to her?_ ' Natsu said, "Hinata-sama, I don't know what happened between you and Hiashi-sama but I assure you he has only the best intentions towards you and Hanabi-sama. You are his daughter and his heir. He is very distraught since you and Hanabi-sama left."

Hanako asked, "So it was never revealed _why_ my granddaughters left the compound to live here?"

Natsu answered, "No Hanako-sama, all we know is _many_ members of the main house and the medical staff were arrested and Hinata-sama had some sort of falling out with her Father. I know personally that the Hokage took Hanabi-sama into protective custody but I don't know why. It isn't talked about because it upsets Hiashi-sama."

Hanako locked eyes with Hinata briefly and then said, "Let me retrieve the report Natsu-san; it will educate you as to why Hinata-chan and Hanabi-chan left." She stood up and departed for a few moments.

Maya said to Natsu, "So you honestly have no inkling of the situation or the fact that Hinata-chan was hospitalized?"

Natsu gasped. "I-I had no idea. Were you injured Hinata-sama?"

"You are just as blind as the rest of the clan." said Hinata darkly.

Natsu was confused. "What do you mean Hinata-sama?"

About that time Hanako came back in with the report and medical file on Hinata. She asked her granddaughter, "May I Hinata-chan?" Hinata closed her eyes and nodded. Hanako said to Natsu, "This is the medical report and its findings on Hinata-chan's case. You will see the conclusions written about it at the end. Read _every page_ in detail before you say a _single word_ Natsu; do you understand?"

Natsu nodded at the older woman as she was handed the folder. Natsu quietly read the initial findings in disbelief but then she saw the pictures of Hinata's injuries and the detailed examinations. Tears started running down Natsu's face as she looked over the information. When she got to the part about Hinata-sama being _poisoned_ and Himawari-sama having _died_ of the same poison she was horrified. Natsu wanted to burst into apologies for not noticing. By the time Natsu got to the final pages about Hinata and Hanabi not being safe at the compound and being placed in Hanako-sama's custody she was openly crying.

Natsu closed the folder and prostrated herself on the floor before Hinata as she sobbed. "I beg your forgiveness Hinata-sama. I should have noticed your pain and helped you. I am so ashamed and so sorry! Please forgive this most unworthy person! You are completely in the right to have moved out of the compound."

Natsu had her forehead touching the floor for a long time before she heard Hinata say. "Get up Natsu." The kind and sweet tone that Hinata-sama always had was gone. Her tone was more like Hanako-sama's. It was clinical and authoritative. Hinata then said, "Go home to the compound and think _hard_ about what you have read tonight for a couple of days. If you still want to come here then come back Wednesday and we will discuss it. Maya-sama, Hanako Obaa-sama and I will discuss whether or not you are welcome in this house or whether or not you can be trusted with Hanabi-chan's care." Natsu was about to say something when Hinata held up her hand and said. "You are dismissed Natsu-san."

Bowing her head, the rather distraught Natsu went back to the Hyūga compound and wondered what she should do.

 **Hokage's Office**

" _A-rank?_ " said Hiruzen flabbergasted.

Dragon nodded. "That's what he said. He was quite adamant on the subject. I also have to talk to Yūgao about working around his schoolwork at the Academy."

"….And Naruto knows he's the only one with the knowledge necessary. He's got us by the proverbial balls doesn't he Dragon?" asked Hiruzen.

"I'm afraid so sir. If you don't mind my saying; he's as clever and sly as a fox." said Dragon.

"Damn that brat…." grumbled Hiruzen. (Sigh) "I'll authorize the A-rank. I know his elective courses aren't chosen yet. Inform Yūgao his first class is still his option but his second is ' _Educating others in the art of fuinjutsu_.' _Do not_ tell her he's getting paid for it either or we may have a very dangerous, enraged ANBU level kunoichi on our hands."

Dragon nodded. "I'll do that immediately sir."

 **The Golden Leaf Restaraunt**

ANBU Dragon arrived and waved down Yūgao who was eating dinner at the Golden Leaf with her boyfriend Hayate. She was calmer now but still a tad steamed. On the positive side her student's after action reports and the questions on the back were answered very honestly. At least all her students were very truthful. Yūgao saw Dragon and saluted. "Is there something I can do for you Commander Dragon?"

Dragon nodded. "Actually there is. Your student Uzumaki Naruto-"

"If he's started pranking again _I'll have his hide!_ " said the angry purple haired kunoichi.

"Calm down Yūgao." said Dragon trying to ease the tension. "Hokage-sama has a job for him at my request."

Yūgao raised a delicate eyebrow. "A job for Uzumaki? What _kind_ of a job?" she asked suspiciously.

"We want Uzumaki's second elective hour to be used to train the ANBU Sealing Team in fuinjutsu." explained the ANBU Commander. "Hokage-sama called it _educating others in the art of fuinjutsu_."

Yūgao looked confused and then got a sardonic smile on her face. "Just how bad is our ANBU Sealing Team to need an _Academy student_ to teach them? Is this some kind of joke?" She let out a chuckle.

Dragon sighed. "Unfortunately it's no joke. Uzumaki's skill in fuinjutsu is _staggering_. Our sealing team is a bunch of rank amateurs compared to him. Hokage-sama said Uzumaki already is better at seals than Jiraiya-sama and the boy is only _fourteen_. The Hokage and I wish for him to teach the Fuinjutsu Team and a few others to bring them up to acceptable levels. I have yet to confirm this with him but since you are his sensei I want to know if taking away one of his electives is going to affect his overall performance or hurt his ninja career in your opinion."

"The specialized classes are designed to teach my students to branch out." said Yūgao. "If it helps him to learn to teach others then he's learning something valuable (and it serves him right). I have no problem with it as long as he keeps up in class. Is he _really_ that good at sealing?"

"We believe the recent mass prank was all enabled by advanced seal work." answered Dragon. Yūgao's eyes widened in shock. "The boy is a _genius_ in fuinjutsu. Make no mistake. I'd induct him into ANBU as head of the Fuinjutsu Team if it was up to me but Hokage-sama disagreed."

"Consider it done." said Yūgao. "When do you want him to start?"

"I will set him up starting tomorrow." answered Dragon. "Depending on how long it takes to set up I hope to have the class started as soon as possible."

 **ANBU Headquarters, Wednesday 3 P.M.**

It was Naruto's first day as a sensei and he was a bit nervous. He'd started yesterday evening getting everything together but he didn't have a syllabus of any sort yet. (He didn't know where to start). It was his first time in ANBU Headquarters where he wasn't a prisoner or being questioned as well which was a rather novel experience in and of itself. He'd asked Hanako Obaa-chan for advice on how to teach a class….

 _Flashback…._

 _"Lace your words with killing intent whenever necessary and accept nothing but the best efforts from your students. If they are dead weight then throw them out Naruto-kun." said Hanako. "Remember, while you are teaching them you are Mother, Father and God Almighty to them regardless of their ages or ranks. If you let them walk all over you then you not only failing yourself; you are failing them as a sensei. Be strict but be fair. Some will need more help than others. This is perfectly acceptable and natural. A good sensei helps their students who need it. But if they are rebellious or disrespect you in any way then you send them to the ANBU Commander. There is no place for that kind of behavior in ANBU."_

 _Flashback end…._

Naruto came in with his Fox mask (how appropriate) on his hip and saw the eleven candidates before him. Putting on his game face Naruto said, "I am Uzumaki Naruto; my assigned codename is Fox. You will address me as Uzumaki-sensei or Naruto-sensei. Everyone should have twenty scrolls, a fresh bottle of normal ink and whatever calligraphy brush they have been using. Chakra ink will not be used until we are ready. I have already witnessed that several of you have substandard brushes and have ordered new high quality brushes for you. They should arrive next week. I want to start out with something basic. On your first scroll write _'I am a fuinjutsu master and my name is_ ….and write out, do not sign, your name. Also add your codename. Below it create the symbols for a basic sealing tag." Naruto then fixed them all with a glare. " _This is important no matter how mundane this may seem as is everything you do in this class. After you have done this call me over and I will inspect it_."

The class grumbled quietly among themselves and ANBU hand signs were flying as they did their 'assignment.' (No doubt they were all insulting). Tortoise raised his hand and said "I'm done _writing my_ _name_ Naruto- _sensei._ " with condescension and sarcasm in his voice. This drew several quiet chuckles.

Naruto came over and examined the paper. Naruto made a disgusted face. "Tortoise, your calligraphy is pathetic. There are ink spatters. The lines on your seal are not perfectly parallel and the swirl pattern is uneven. This will not do. _FAIL!_ "

" ** _WHHAATT?!_** " was the reaction of the class.

Tortoise colored up and said, "What do you mean _fail_ you brat?!" I should-"

Naruto cut him off with a question. " _Do you know how to make an exploding tag Tortoise?_ "

"Of course I do!" said the man insulted.

Naruto said irritably, "It seems a practical demonstration is in order then." He got out a standard bottle of chakra ink and hung a blank scroll on the board. "Tortoise, please demonstrate your _expertise_ and make a level two exploding tag."

"Level Two?" asked Tortoise. All the others in class had equal looks of confusion and Naruto face palmed.

Naruto said, "Fine, make a standard exploding tag that you are familiar with as quickly as possible."

Tortoise went to the board and after about five minutes had created an exploding tag and said "Seal!" before stepping aside to show his work with a smug look. Naruto shook his head. It had all the same flaws as the previous scroll Tortoise wrote did.

"Does anyone see any flaws with this?" asked Naruto. "No one? Very well, observe as I make one. Note I'm using and identical scroll and the same bottle of chakra ink. He hung a scroll on the board and fifteen seconds later Naruto said, "Seal!" and went to clean his brush. It happened so fast no one could follow it. After Naruto finished cleaning his brush he said, "Does anyone see a difference between the two?"

A pretty young blonde girl said, "Yours looks like a work of art sensei! It is perfect."

"And you are?" asked Naruto.

"I am Gazeru*, I specialize in kenjutsu like you do judging by your swords." She seemed friendly enough.

Tortoise growled, "So it's _pretty_ ; so what? That won't count when you're fighting the enemy!"

The class soon adjourned to a training ground to test the two tags. Naruto set the two tags about forty feet apart. He turned to Gazeru. "Since you seem impartial Gazeru; I ask that you set off these two tags individually with the minimum amount of chakra necessary. Do the one Tortoise made first. Everyone looked puzzled but Gazeru did as asked. She sent a chakra burst to the tag Tortoise made and….nothing. She tried again with more chakra with the same results. She glared at Tortoise for a second and sent out twice the normal amount necessary. It blew up forming a seven foot, unevenly shaped hole. The ground shook a little.

"Very good." praised Naruto. "Now go back to the minimum amount of chakra and set off the tag I made." Gazeru nodded and sent a chakra burst. There was a massive explosion that left a thirty foot, perfectly round crater and nearly blew the class off their feet. After the dust settled everyone was gawking at the massive hole in the ground. Naruto then said, "Note it took Tortoise five minutes to make an unreliable tag that would have taken out two or three enemies. Also note it didn't explode evenly so if it had been thrown in the center of the group of enemies it might not have taken out the primary target."

Naruto then pointed to the thirty foot crater. "Everything in the kill zone of this tag would have been destroyed from the center evenly which gives you four times the blast radius to knock out your target. It worked the first time with a minimum of chakra and was created in less than twenty seconds which means it could have been made _on the battlefield_. **_Now,_** **_does anyone see a difference between the two?_** "

Most of the class was in awe and Tortoise was utterly humiliated. Gazeru had stars in her eyes. Naruto's voice was laced with killing intent. " _This is what I have to teach you to be competent seal masters. If you want to learn follow me back to the classroom. If you don't report to Commander Dragon that you have failed and stop wasting my precious time_." Oh, boy….Hanako Obaa-chan would be proud….

POSTSCRIPT:

*Gazeru is young ANBU in the Manga that helped protect Tsunade during Pein's attack on Konaha. There isn't really much said about her other than she has light hair and carries a sword. For the purposes of this story her name is Tomoe Hikari and she is a year or two older than Naruto and the others which would make her 15-16. For all practical purposes she is an OC based on Kishimoto's background character.

Well, Naruto-sensei seems to be taking lessons from both the Uzuki and Hanako schools of ANBU training. Will he teach an outstanding class or will he send them all away running and screaming? See you next time. Blue out. 6/8/15


	13. Chapter 13

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well, a lot more drama in this chapter than originally planned. We also get to see the second _homework from hell_ assignment so there's a little humor in there. Here's chapter 13:

Last time:

 _"Now go back to the minimum amount of chakra and set off the tag I made." Gazeru nodded and sent a chakra burst. There was a massive explosion that left a thirty foot, perfectly round crater and nearly blew the class off their feet. After the dust settled everyone was gawking at the massive hole in the ground. Naruto then said, "Note it took Tortoise five minutes to make an unreliable tag that would have taken out two or three enemies. Also note it didn't explode evenly so if it had been thrown in the center of the group of enemies it might not have taken out the primary target."_

 _Naruto then pointed to the thirty foot crater. "Everything in the kill zone of this tag would have been destroyed from the center evenly which gives you four times the blast radius to knock out your target. It worked the first time with a minimum of chakra and was created in less than twenty seconds which means it could have been made _on the battlefield__. _**Now,**_ _**does anyone see a difference between the two?**_ "

 _Most of the class was in awe and Tortoise was utterly humiliated. Gazeru had stars in her eyes. Naruto's voice was laced with killing intent. " _This is what I have to teach you to be competent seal masters. If you want to learn follow me back to the classroom. If you don't report to Commander Dragon that you have failed and stop wasting my precious time__. " _Oh, boy….Hanako Obaa-chan would be proud…._

 **Chapter 13**

 **Konoha, Natsume Residence**

It was Thursday morning and Hyūga Neji went to visit his Obaa-Sama Hanako at the Natsume residence. He had been quite irritated that his Grandmother was coddling his spoiled main branch cousins and hadn't visited her even though Hanako invited him to come over quite a while ago. He didn't want to be confrontational (Hanako could kick his ass six ways to Sunday in a heartbeat). Still, he was miffed that Hanako-sama was showering Hinata-sama with attention when she was such a weakling. Why waste the effort? Knocking on the front door of the Natsume Clan Home he quietly waited and Hanabi-sama opened the door.

"Neji nii-san! I'm happy to see you. Obaa-chan has been expecting you for days." said Hanabi.

Neji cringed a bit. "I've been very busy with my genin team and haven't had time to visit. I'm sure she'll understand."

"I don't know about that." said Hanabi with a raised eyebrow. "Hanako Obaa-chan is very strict about punctuality and you never sent a message. She's meditating in the dojo. Just follow me nii-san."

Neji was sweating a bit as he followed his younger cousin through the Natsume home to the dojo. Hanabi opened the door and the scent of his Grandmother's favorite tea wafted through the air to his nose. "Neji nii-san is here Hanako Obaa-chan." said Hanabi happily.

Hanako nodded and said, "Thank you for bringing him to me Hanabi-chan. I wish to visit with Neji-kun in private so please return to your studies."

Hanabi bowed. "Yes Obaa-chan." she whispered to Neji on her way out, "Good luck."

Neji was sweating as Hanako-sama called him over. "I've wondered when you were going to turn up Neji-kun. You've missed several advanced juken lessons with me. It wouldn't be because you're jealous that I'm helping Hinata-chan too would it?"

Neji sat in the seiza position before her, "Of course not Obaa-sama; why would I be angry?" He quickly found himself knocked over by the _chopsticks of doom_.

"You know that you a hundred years too young to lie to me Neji-kun." said Hanako. "Also, I have told you to address me as _Obaa-chan_ time and again, not _Obaa-sama_. You are my grandson and there is no need for such formalities between us. Now, I want you to tell me the _real_ reason you have not been coming to see me. I have missed spending our special time training together with my grandson Neji-kun."

Neji sat back up rubbing his forehead from the _chopsticks of doom_ and saw them float back to his Grandmother via chakra strings. "I am sorry Obaa-chan but Hinata-sama is a spoiled member of the main house that gets _everything_ handed to her. I was….upset that you were helping her and not me. You make me feel special and-"

"You _are_ special Neji-kun." said Hanako. "You are _very_ precious to me. I left a note for you to come here when I took Hinata-chan and Hanabi-chan into my care because you were out of the village at the time. I wanted to explain the direness of the situation so you would not feel left out. I cannot believe you've been angry this long. If that damn seal wasn't on your head I'd-" ' _Wait! What am I thinking? Naruto-kun is the best seal master in generations! If anyone can remove it he can!_ '

Calming herself down mentally, Hanako said, "Neji-kun, do you have any idea what's been going on in the Hyūga compound? Do you know why there were so many arrests and why I took Hinata-chan and Hanabi-chan into my care?"

Neji sighed. "It has been kept silent and as a member of the branch house I am not privy to that information. I do know that there has been a great deal of unrest and Hiashi-sama seems very upset about it. I would think he'd be happy to be rid of Hinata-sama given what a weakling she is." He got decked by the _chopsticks of doom_ once again for that comment.

"Did you ever question _why_ Hinata-chan seemed so weak Neji-kun?" asked Hanako earnestly.

"It's just her fate." answered Neji. "It's the same as me being doomed to be in the Branch House. Fate is unchangeable."

Hanako sighed. "I will somehow change this delusion of fate you inherited from Hizashi if it's the last thing I do Neji-kun. I hated your Grandfather for branding Hizashi and I hated that you were branded as well. I'm happy knowing that _bastard_ is locked away in jail."

Neji was a bit taken aback by the anger in Hanako's voice. "What….what happened then?" he asked.

Hanako said, "I don't know if you are aware but your late Aunt Himawari was _murdered_." Neji's eyes got big as saucers. "She was slowly poisoned to death by the Hyūga Elders and the medical staff because she wanted to ban the caged bird seal that has plagued our clan for generations. Hinata-chan also wanted to ban the seal and they began to slowly poison her as well. Hinata-chan would have died of heart failure by her sixteenth birthday. She was also being physically tortured and abused almost daily for months."

Neji was completely dumbfounded. "I-I can't believe this! Why did she not tell anyone?"

Hanako frowned and said, "Wait here Neji-kun; I know Hinata-chan will be upset with me for showing you the file but there is irrefutable proof there of what your cousin, _who still loves you despite your hatred towards her_ , went through. Hanako soon went and returned with Hinata's medical file. "Just for your information Neji-kun; let me tell you a few things. Hinata-chan didn't tell anybody she was being tortured because they threatened to hurt Hanabi-chan if she did so. Also, back in the Second Shinobi War I was captured and tortured by Iwa and it was _nothing_ compared to what Hinata-chan went through. This report was compiled by the Hokage's private medical staff so know that it is impartial and absolutely truthful. I want you to read this in detail and tell me how you feel about Hinata-chan afterwards.

For a half an hour Neji looked at the medical report; the pictures and Doctor Akira's conclusions. He stared in shock before the reality of it all sank in. For the first time in his life he openly cried for Hinata-sama feeling that her fate was far worse than his. Eventually he ended up in Hanako's embrace as she comforted him. They talked for a long while about his feelings after that and Neji found that he could no longer truly resent Hinata. It would take time but he promised himself to be a kinder person and a true cousin to her. No one should have gone through what she did; especially at the hands of her own _family_ ….

 **Training Ground 42, 8 A.M. Saturday**

It was morning and morning the advanced Genin Class had a simple job. They had to get from their 'hidden base' at the west side of the heavily forested Training Ground 42 to the 'home base' on the east side.

 _Flashback…._

 _"You are the Blue Forces." said Yūgao on Friday. "Your enemies are the Red Forces. All you twelve have to do is get from your 'hidden base' in Red Country on the west side starting at 8 A.M. to the safety of Blue Country which is the base on the east side. I shouldn't tell you anything about who your opponents are but I will say there are twelve of them and they_ ** _volunteered_** _to help in this simulation. Their job is to 'kill' you and your job is to make it across the training grounds alive by any non lethal means necessary. The simulation ends when you are all safe in 'Blue Country' or 'dead.' Aside of that you each get twelve blue paint kunai and twelve blue paint shuriken. Naturally your opponents have red ones."_

 _Yūgao got a particularly nasty gleam in her eye. "I look forward to seeing how you perform as a_ ** _unit_** _. You are dismissed for the day."_

 _After class ended the genins in training heard Naruto say, "_ ** _Any means necessary_** _huh?...That gives me an idea…."_

 _The genins in training worked feverishly through the night…._

 _Flashback end…._

At precisely 8 A.M. Yūgao gave them the signal to start and vanished in a body flicker. Everyone was waiting with baited breath as Hinata activated her byakugan. "There are two at the left of the forest entrance. They are wearing ANBU masks."

Sakura gulped and asked, " _ANBU?_ What ANBU are they?"

"They are Tortoise and Raccoon from what I can tell." answered Hinata.

' _How did I just_ _know_ _that the members of my fuinjutsu class_ ** _volunteered_** _for this just to get back at me for making them practice calligraphy?_ ' thought Naruto. ' _I'll show them the power of seals_ ….' he thought mischievously. Naruto said, "Emi-chan; can you hit them at this range?"

Emi raised an eyebrow. "I could hit them at this distance if they were to stay still but we are talking _ANBU_ here Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled and said. "Just hit about five feet short of them with _this_ kunai." he said as he handed her a blue kunai with a tag around it.

She gasped, "You can use these on a kunai? Won't it hurt?"

Naruto gave her a fox like grin. "Trust me Emi-chan; it's harmless."

With Tortoise and Racoon….

"I'm going to beat the living **hell** out of Uzumaki-sensei before I 'kill' him with red paint!" said Tortoise as he rubbed his hands together greedily.

Raccoon shook his head. "Just don't maim him too bad or ANBU Cat and Commander Dragon will be _really_ pissed –not to mention he might get _revenge_ on us later in class."

"I'm just going to beat him a _little_ senseless, okay?" said Tortoise irritably. "Why is that red haired girl throwing a blue kunai at this range? It's going to fall short of the mark-"

 ** _SSPPLLAATT!_** When the kunai hit it exploded into a blob of blue paint nearly thirty feet across. Tortoise and Raccoon were completely engulfed in a tidal wave of blue paint and the genins in training rapidly moved out.

" _DAMN YOU FOX-SENSEI!_ " wailed Tortoise pitifully as the kids ran by.

Naruto said, "Operation: SCREAMNG BLUE MURDER is go!" During the next two hours blue paint explosions were everywhere and two thirds of Training Ground 42 was decorated in blue in the process.

Between the weeping ANBU and the chortling genins in training the whole simulation was shot to hell via fuinjutsu tags placed **_everywhere_**. All twelve of the Advanced Genin Class had been up all night planting blue paint bomb tags, shock tags, paralysis tags and flash tags (among others) everywhere and Naruto's fuinjutsu class members were all wiped out as a result. Yūgao's class was sitting in the east base/Blue Country all laughing at the expense of their victims. It wasn't to say Naruto had done it all by himself. While he'd been feverishly creating tags Shikamaru, Maya and Sasuke picked out strategic places to put them. Once the locations were picked out the entire group snuck out after dark and placed the tags in position before dawn. It really was a group effort. The Red Team never knew what hit them.

They heard a knock on the door and Hinata quickly identified it as ANBU Commander Dragon with her byakugan and answered the door. "Good morning to you Dragon-sama." she greeted nicely. "Is there something we can do for you? We are currently involved in a simulation."

Dragon chuckled. "I'm here in place of your sensei Yūgao to inform you the simulation is complete. She's feeling _blue_. You are all free to call it a day. I'm afraid all of your opponent's are too busy showering to stop you. Well done." He turned to Naruto, "Your class has been delayed until 5 P.M. so your students can clean up." Naruto smiled ferally and nodded.

 **ANBU Tortoise's Apartment 2 P.M.**

Tortoise spent all morning scrubbing blue paint off himself. He may as well have bathed in it. It managed to get everywhere and he was exhausted just from cleaning himself. His whole plan to get back at Uzumaki-sensei for humiliating him in front of the class and bossing him around about his bad handwriting had colossally backfired. Now all his classmates were irritated with him because they were afraid of the consequences that would occur in class later. After finally getting the last of the blue paint off of him Tortoise laid on his bed for a short nap….

 _Dreamscape…._

 _A chibi Tortoise was happily writing in class with a musical note above his head when a chibi Naruto marched up. Chibi Naruto was wearing a black trench coat and a black bandana with a skull and crossbones on it. He was toting a kendo stick and whacked chibi Tortoise square on the noggin. "ON YOUR FEET OR ON YOUR KNEES SOLDIER!" yelled chibi Naruto as he snatched the paper chibi Tortoise had been writing on. "WHAT THE **** IS THIS ****? WHERE DID YOU ******* LEARN HOW TO WRITE YOU ******* PIECE OF ****? I OUTTA ****** SHOVE ***** ***** ***** TABLE LEG ***** ***** UP THE *** OF A ****'S MOTHER YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF ****! Chibi Naruto violently whacked chibi Tortoise on the head again and bellowed, "YOUR ***** ANCESTORS WOULD BE ******* ASHAMED OF YOUR ******* ***! START OVER FROM THE BEGINNING ****FACE! IF I EVER SEE THIS KIND OF **** FROM YOU AGAIN I'LL **** AND **** YOU WITH AN AUGER UNTIL YOU GET IT RIGHT! DO YOU HEAR ME ****FACE?"_

 _Chibi Tortoise shrieked in terror, "SIR, YES SIR!"_

 _"WHAT DID YOU SAY SOLDIER?" yelled chibi Naruto as he clocked chibi Tortoise on the head again with his kendo stick._

 ** _"_** ** _SIR, YES SIR UZUMAKI-SAMA!_** ** _"_**

 _Dreamscape end…._

 **"** ** _AHHHHH!_** **"** screamed Tortoise as he woke up from his horrible dream. ' _I'm never,_ ** _never_** _going to plot revenge on Uzumaki-sensei again as long as I live! ….Come to think of it; why was my nightmare censored for PG audiences…?_ '

Maybe Tortoise inhaled a few too many paint fumes….

 **Natsume Residence 3 P.M.**

Hyūga Natsu arrived at the Natsume clan home. She'd done a lot of soul searching and truly felt awful about what happened to Hinata-sama. She truly considered confronting Hiashi-sama about it but seeing how broken and distraught her Lord was she felt it would just be pouring salt in an open wound. She did talk to Ko and found the man was grieving over what had happened to Hinata-sama. He never went to the medics for the thirty-two palms strike from Hinata-sama because he felt it was appropriate for him to suffer after what had happened. Natsu felt bad for him but at the same time she couldn't see the damage ever mending between him and Hinata-sama.

Natsu decided that she would serve the Natsume household faithfully if they would have her but at the same time she would fully understand if they decided not to trust her. She did inform Hiashi-sama she'd seen the medical report but didn't say anything more. The Hyūga patriarch said he would ' _trust Natsu to use her best judgment_ ' and that he had ' _failed utterly as a Father_.' He wished Natsu the best of luck and after that he hung his head and dismissed her. Natsu felt sorrow for Hiashi-sama but the look she'd seen in Hinata-sama's eyes told her that forgiveness wasn't coming any time soon if ever.

Knocking on the door Natsu was greeted by Aya in her usual friendly manner. "Hello, Hyūga-san. May I help you?"

"Hello, I'm Hyūga Natsu. I was wondering if Natsume Maya-sama was home. I offered my services as a maid to her earlier in the week." said the nervous kunoichi/maid.

Aya nodded. "She is home. Please step in and I'll run and get her."

' _Well, that went better than last time with Uzumaki-san_.' thought Natsu with a shiver as she waited for Aya to return.

Aya soon arrived with Maya who gave her younger sister instructions to retrieve Hananko Obaa-chan and Hinata-chan and bring them to the kitchen to discuss things. Maya said, "This way please Natsu-san. We will discuss things in the kitchen. I'm interested to hear how you intend to help around here since we've always been self sufficient."

Natsu thought, " _That's not a good start_." Soon Natsu was sitting in the kitchen with Maya, Hinata and Hanako-sama. She was nervous and was listing off her kunoichi skills for Maya's sake. Hinata already knew and Hanako was a mystery to the young kunoichi/maid.

"So what do you think of Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata. "He is living here and is part of the family. If you are biased against him because of the Kyubi then you are not welcome in this house. Hanabi-chan informed us that you said to _shun him_ in the past. That will _not_ be tolerated."

Natsu recoiled a bit. "I had no idea Uzumaki-san was living here on a permanent basis."

"He is a permanent resident here in the Natsume Clan home." said Maya. (Truthfully it was supposed to be temporary but Maya and Hinata were going to _make_ it permanent one way or another). "So how do you plan to help as a maid around here anyway? No offense but the Natsume Clan hasn't ever had a maid or any sort of house servant so I don't even know what you would be doing."

Natsu said, "Well, I can cook, clean and do laundry. My primary task has been taking care of Hanabi-sama and educating her and I would be happy to resume that duty."

"She told me that your opinion of Naruto-kun was very negative." said Hinata.

"I admit in the past that I found Uzumaki's behavior to be rather unseemly and I did tell Hanabi-sama to avoid him." admitted Natsu.

Hanako asked, "So it had _nothing_ to do with his burden?"

"I did not trust Uzumaki-san because of that but I have seen the error of my ways." answered Natsu nervously.

Maya said, "The decision is ultimately mine as I am clan head here. I really don't trust you all that much but we could use an extra set of hands to help around the house due to our heavy training schedules. I believe we can try this on a trial basis over the next month. Do either of you have any misgivings?" she asked Hinata and Hanako.

Hinata shook her head 'no' and Hanako said. "As long as Natsu proves herself trustworthy I see no reason why she can't work here."

Natsu let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Then I will be honored to serve in the Natsume household."

 **ANBU Headquarters 5 P.M.**

Naruto had been riding his class hard about their poor calligraphy skills and their inability to make proper seal patterns all week but today he decided to try something different. He wanted to _inspire_ them. Since they had a two hour weekend session he felt it was worthwhile to discuss some of the practical applications of seals. "Good evening class. I hope you aren't feeling too _blue_ at getting your assess handed to you by a bunch of Academy students earlier today." Everyone groaned at the reminder of their embarrassment and their (currently) least favorite color. "Now that I have your attention I'd like to direct your thoughts towards the different kinds of tags used in that simulation. The paint tags represented exploding tags. The shock tags could have been used as is or upgraded to their more lethal sibling that electrocutes you. The paralysis tags were standard as were the flash tags and smoke tags though any of them could be altered for more lethal effects."

Naruto hung a non-functional copy of each of the tags he mentioned. "How many of you can make all these tags?"

"…."

"…."

After going through each tag individually Naruto was face palming and said, "All of you can make sealing tags, flash tags, and smoke tags and _some_ of you can make shock and exploding tags. Most of you know the basics of disarming tags because that's what the Fuinjutsu Team's job mainly is. _The general practice is for our shinobi forces to_ ** _purchase_** _exploding tags from_ ** _outside_** _sources because ours don't perform well_ …. ** _correct?_** " The killing intent coming off of Naruto was very heavy by now and the class was sweating heavily as they all nodded in the affirmative.

Naruto sighed. "How many of you know about supplementary tags?" Seeing no one had even heard of them Naruto pulled a small circular tag out and said. "A supplementary tag is a tag that affects other tags around it. This is a proximity or chain tag. I had several of these in Training Ground 42 earlier today. When you get near one of these little gems it sets off a minimal chakra pulse. Can any of you tell me what use that would have?"

Gazeru raised her hand and Naruto motioned for her to answer. "If it sends out a chakra pulse couldn't it be used to set off other tags?"

Naruto nodded. "Correct! If I have and exploding tag concealed somewhere nearby I can rely on my enemy to set off this little baby and cause the other well hidden tag nearby to detonate. Unlike a wire trap that can be physically seen and avoided or a landmine that has to be physically buried this can sit out in plain sight or hidden under something as small as the leaf of a tree. I could be miles away from my enemy and take them out without having to lift a finger. It's great for ambushes or a delaying action. Another type of supplementary tag is a fuse or timer tag. It can be preset to let out a chakra pulse at a given time rather than by someone setting it off. Instead of having a physical wire or a mechanical timer you have one of these stuck someplace inconspicuous. They can hold chakra charges for weeks so you can have everything set up and be out of the country when your trap is sprung."

Naruto's class looked rather amazed at the concept. (It was considered level one basics to chain seals together in Uzu but Naruto didn't go there). He pulled out another small tag. "This is a chakra detector tag. Like a listening tag it has a twin that receives its signals. This would tell you how strong someone who passed by it was. For example; if you were planning to assassinate someone that was jonin level, this baby would signal you if someone of that chakra capacity was near it. Seals can do _anything_. They are _only_ limited by the scope of your imagination. Watch." Naruto drew all over the chalkboard and then activated the cleaning seal he placed there that was identical to the one he'd put on Iruka's chalkboard before. When the board glowed and turned spotless Naruto said, "The applications are endless once you learn the mechanics!"

There was a soft murmur of amazement through the class. "If you are willing to learn you can do all kinds of things both on and off the battlefield." said Naruto. "Seals are not limited to combat and security only. But in order to create them properly _we must be precise in both our symbols and our calligraphy_. A very complex seal with the slightest error in it could have **_disastrous_** results. _As fuinjutsu masters we must strive for perfection in everything we do related to the sealing arts_. I practice my own calligraphy for an hour or more every day just to stay sharp."

Naruto exhaled deeply. "Monday I will have proper calligraphy brushes for you and I will show you the proper way to use and care for them. Then we will practice calligraphy one kanji at a time until it is right. After that we will move on to basic sealing symbols." He looked at the clock and saw there was still forty-five minutes left. "We're done for the day. Reflect on what I've said and take the rest of the evening off. If you have any questions feel free to ask. You're all dismissed." As everyone filed out they looked at Naruto a bit differently than they had before. Naruto sat down at his desk and looked over yet _another_ basic fuinjutsu textbook he'd been given to examine. It was garbage too. ' _Hell, it would be easier to write my own then try to teach with these crappy things. That's the twelfth one!_ ' He looked up and saw Gazeru standing there smiling. "I'm sorry Gazeru; did you have a question for me?"

The pretty green eyed, blonde girl shook her head. "No, I just think what you said today was amazing Naruto-sensei. I had no idea seals were so fascinating."

Naruto blushed a tiny bit in embarrassment. "Well, fuinjutsu is as much an art as a science Gazeru. I really enjoy them."

Gazeru nodded. "I could really tell you have a great _passion_ for them today Naruto-sensei….and just call me Hikari from now on okay?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "Ummm….Okay Hikari; I'll see you Monday." She smiled and waved on her way out with a soft sway in her hips.

Naruto got up and closed the door before he activated a small seal on the doorknob that sent a chakra disruption pulse through the room. ANBU Commander Dragon appeared in the back row and looked a little shocked that he'd been found out. "How long have you known I was here Uzumaki?" he asked curiously.

"You were here when I first came in two hours ago." said Naruto. "I have a seal on my desk that detects these things you know."

Dragon said, "Actually, I _didn't_ know. Did you take it easy on your class because I was present? I heard you were a drill instructor from hell."

Naruto chuckled. "Actually I am just following Hanako Obaa-chan's advice on how to teach a class." (Dragon cringed). "To tell you the truth I already came close to drowning them in blue paint earlier today so I thought I'd try to inspire them to do better instead. I **_WILL_** whip them into shape though, make no mistake."

Dragon chuckled, "And what about Gazeru?"

Naruto pondered a moment. "What about her? Her calligraphy is good but it curls too much. It's a bit too girly but I think she will pick up on it. She seems very open minded about learning."

The ANBU Commander sweat dropped. "I don't mean her handwriting; I mean _her_. I think she _likes_ you Naruto- _sensei_."

Naruto went bug eyed and then sweat dropped. "What are you; the ANBU Commander or some kind of a matchmaker? I'm the _Kyubi Brat_ remember?"

Dragon rested his chin on his palm. "Tomoe Hikari started really young in ANBU like Uzuki Yūgao did. She doesn't have many friends her own age as a result. You might find she's _far_ more interesting than just a pretty face. On the other hand I do see your point. Who would want to date an ugly runt like you? –Not to mention most of your dealings with ANBU have been from behind bars or on the receiving end of an interrogation session."

"Watch what you say _Bozo the clown_." said Naruto with narrowed eyes. "I'd hate to see you end up in that _outfit_ again."

Dragon asked quickly, "Changing subjects; what about those fuinjutsu textbooks we provided; have any proven useful?"

Naruto shook his head. "I've read twelve out of the twenty five so far. They're all garbage. At this rate I may have to write my own."

"Well, do whatever you have to do _Fox_. I'll probably see you Monday. Try to stay out of trouble." Dragon quietly excused himself and Naruto started skimming fuinjutsu book number thirteen….

 **Hyūga Compound, Hiashi's Office**

Hiashi was wondering how things had gone with Natsu. He was finished with his paperwork for the day and was thinking about how much he missed his two daughters. He wondered if things would ever be right between him and his children again. Hinata-chan was still his heir and the only one that could ever see being the next clan head. She actually had always shown a real savvy for clan workings and politics. What his contacts (and Ko) had told him was Hinata had adopted her Grandmother's fighting style and was becoming more powerful and lethal on a daily basis. She usually flattened her opponents in sparring in the advanced genin class including the much vaunted Uchiha that was supposed to be Rookie of the Year material. She had demolished poor Ko. If the situation wasn't so bad Hiashi would have been bursting with Fatherly pride but alas….Hiashi heard a sharp knocking on his door and quickly composed himself. "Enter." He said authoritatively.

When the door opened Hiashi was a bit shocked to see his Mother Hanako there. She marched in and closed the door behind her. When she took her stance that Hiashi remembered she took when scolding him as a child he feared Natsu was in the hospital or dead. He said wide eyed, "Kaa-san I-"

"Just be quiet and listen Hiashi." said Hanako in a voice that would brook no opposition. "I'm rather curious to know what kind of a game you're playing sending Natsu-san over but I think I'm going to let slide for now. If you think she can act as some sort of spy with me around both you and her will taste my wrath."

"I assure you Kaa-san; I sent her over to help with Hanabi since I know you must have your hands full." pleaded Hiashi. "Natsu isn't a spy or anything. I just want to make amends with my little girls. I think Hinata-chan truly hates me and it's destroying me inside. Will you help me Kaa-san?"

"After what happened it's a miracle Hinata is still intact mentally and physically." said Hanako in a steely voice. "You should be proud of her for that alone. Regardless, I have another task that brought me over here."

Hiashi asked, "What do you need Kaa-san? Just name it!"

Hanako leaned forward and said. "I want a copy of the scroll that the information on applying the Caged Bird seal is written in. I know there is one sealed up in the safe hidden behind the bookcase behind you. I assure you I will return the filthy thing to you and not destroy it but I need to borrow it for a few days. _Don't ask why_."

Hiashi was a bit dumbfounded as to why his Mother wanted the scroll or how she knew a copy was kept there to begin with. She must have known from when his Father was clan head….Noticing his Mother's foot was starting to tap impatiently Hiashi wordlessly turned around and got in the safe. After getting the scroll out he said, "This is a very old copy so it is fragile." Then he handed it over to her delicately.

Hanako took the scroll and said, "This scroll caused your own twin endless pain and eventually ended him. If you want to honor your wife's memory and perhaps make Hinata-chan happy then you should ban this abomination that enslaves our family." Hiashi was about to say something when Hanako held up her hand to forestall any arguments. "I know you'll parrot your damned Father in saying _it's necessary_ and _it's tradition_ but remember that old fool had the same excuses for torturing poor Hinata-chan and murdering Himawari-chan." With that Hanako vanished in a body flicker without even bidding him farewell.

Hyūga Hiashi had a lot to think about….

 **Tawara Bushichi's Apartment**

Bunshichi was sitting at home after a long hard day of chasing women without any luck. He couldn't even find his favorite piece of eye candy, Mitarashi Anko. He was currently contemplating selling his soul to the devil just to have one night of passion with her…that's when he heard a knock on his door. ' _Is it Anko-chan?!_ ' thought the perpetually unshaven man. He opened the door quickly and saw…. _Uzumaki Naruto_ …."You don't know what a turn off you are midget." said Bunshichi depressed that it wasn't his psycho angel.

"You're no dreamboat either ugly." said Naruto as he shoved his way in and sat on the couch. "I need your help Bunshichi-sensei."

Bunshichi closed the door behind them and took a chair. "What do you need my help with Naruto? Got a new move you're trying?"

Naruto held up a very old taijustsu book with the Uzumaki family crest on it. "This is the Whirlpool style of taijutsu that my Kaa-chan used. Hanako Obaa-chan got it from an unknown source. I'd like you to help me learn it when you have the time."

Naruto gently handed the book to Bunshichi who started thumbing through it. The older man whistled. "This is definitely the style Kushina-sama used. I still remember the horrible sounds of joints cracking and breaking when she was busy." He flipped though some more pages. "The main thing about this style is speed and leverage. Upper body strength is a must also. I'd say your body is basically made for this style. Have you kept up with the body hardening workout I gave you?"

The blonde nodded. "I do it every day in the morning before my classes."

Bunshichi had Naruto stand up and mashed on a few of his muscle groups and moved his body around a bit. "Good, you're rock solid but still very flexible. That's what we want. Tell me your schedule and we'll figure out a time to practice together as much as we can. Hell, I could use some of these moves. This one is positively **_brutal_**." laughed Bunshichi while pointing to a diagram that looked like a chiropractor's worst nightmare.

"Awesome! I knew I could count on you sensei!" said Naruto.

"I'll need to keep the book here to study it so we can get it right." said Bunshichi. "Is that okay?"

Naruto nodded. "I trust you to take good care of it sensei."

"Alright; give me a few days to study this." said the older of the pair.

"That's fine." grumbled Naruto. "I have to drudge through fuinjutsu textbooks to see if I can find one to teach my class with. They're all garbage so far."

"You're a sensei?" asked Bunshichi in a flat tone.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I'm teaching the ANBU Fuinjutsu Team how to do seals. They're really pathetic. They misbehaved earlier today so I nearly had to drown them in blue paint."

Bunshichi had seen the ' _Blue ANBU_ ' spectacle earlier that day and exploded into laughter….

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, another homework assignment down. We'll see how Yūgao grades them next chapter. Also, Tsunade, Jiraiya and family will finally arrive in Konoha next chapter so that should shake things up a bit. See you then. Blue out. 6/10/15


	14. Chapter 14

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Ever wonder what Aya's been up to all this time? You'll get a sampler this chapter. Also, Jiraiya and Tsunade finally arrive in Konoha so changes are in the wind. Here is chapter 14:

Last time:

 _Hell, I could use some of these moves. This one is positively_ ** _brutal_** ** _."_** _laughed Bunshichi while pointing to a diagram that looked like a chiropractor's worst nightmare._

 _"Awesome! I knew I could count on you sensei!" said Naruto._

 _"I'll need to keep the book here to study it so we can get it right." said Bunshichi. "Is that okay?"_

 _Naruto nodded. "I trust you to take good care of it sensei."_

 _"Alright; give me a few days to study this." said the older of the pair._

 _"That's fine." grumbled Naruto. "I have to drudge through fuinjutsu textbooks to see if I can find one to teach my class with. They're all garbage so far."_

 _"You're a sensei?" asked Bunshichi in a flat tone._

 _Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I'm teaching the ANBU Fuinjutsu Team how to do seals. They're really pathetic. They misbehaved earlier today so I nearly had to drown them in blue paint."_

 _Bunshichi had seen the ' Blue ANBU' spectacle earlier that day and exploded into laughter…._

 **Chapter 14**

 **Konoha, Yūgao and Hayate's Apartment**

It was Sunday morning and Yūgao and Hayate were making out passionately in bed. After Yūgao ended up painted blue yesterday she'd been pretty upset and Hayate helped her clean up in the shower and one thing led to another…."Hayate-kun, we both have the day off today. What do you say we stay in bed and make love all day?" asked Yūgao with hungry eyes.

Hayate smiled happily. "Your wish is my command my angel."

Yūgao never did get around to grading all that homework….

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Naruto and the girls were standing around a new fuinjutstu tag that Naruto created. He had it set up in the entryway near the steps leading upstairs. "What does this thing do again nii-san?" asked Hanabi curiously. "It repels things?"

Naruto nodded. "I call it a repulsor tag. The idea is if you wear it a field would activate and it would push kunai and shuriken away from you. It can be aimed so I have it angled towards me." He held up a rubber ball. "I'm going to toss this ball at it and if it works right it should repel the ball back towards me."

"Cool!" said Aya. "So you could attach it to armor for extra protection."

"Exactly right Aya-chan." said Naruto as he activated the seal on the floor. "Here we go!" Naruto lightly tossed the ball at the tag and it came to a halt in the air for a split second before it sent the ball rocketing back towards Naruto at terminal velocity and hit him square in the chest. The impact sent him tumbling up the stairs, down the hall and head first into the hamper full of clothes.

Maya and Hinata cried out "Naruto-kun!" and Aya and Hanabi stared completely dumbfounded at what they'd just witnessed.

That's when they heard Hanako Obaa-chan cracking up with laughter upstairs. "Hahaha! I have to say I've seen people fall _down_ stairs Naruto-kun, but not _up_ them! And you landed _perfectly_ headfirst in the dirty clothes! Bwahaha! You made my morning."

Naruto groaned and moved his legs a little (they were the only part sticking out of the hamper). Hanabi was shocked to hear her Obaa-chan laughing so uproariously (Usually a little dignified chuckle was all you'd get out of her).

Hinata and Maya deactivated the seal and went upstairs to make sure their Naruto-kun was alright. Hinata turned to Hanako. "Hanako Obaa-chan! I cannot believe you are laughing when Naruto-kun could be severely injured!"

Hanako was still getting her laughter under control. "Don't be ridiculous Hinata-chan! (guffaw) Naruto-kun is as durable as a piece of granite. He's fine. You two girls just fish him out of the hamper. I haven't laughed this hard in _years!_ Bwahaha!"

Naruto just muttered, "I can just _feel_ the love coming from you Obaa-chan…." to which Hanako just chortled some more.

As it turned out Naruto was unhurt though shaken up a bit. Hinata and Maya fussed over him for a while anyway though.

As for the repulsor tag….it was back to the drawing board for that one….

 **Konoha Front Gates**

"Wow, this place is huge!" said Mito excitedly as she looked at the enormous wooden gates of the Konoha Village.

Jiraiya chuckled. "Well, it's a lot bigger than Dokoni mo; that's for sure. Let's sign in Mito-chan"

Both Izumo and Kotetsu were struck dumb when the group announced themselves. The future Fifth Hokage said, "Senju Tsunade and Jiraiya of the sannin here reporting to the Hokage. My apprentice Shizune and Mito-chan are here as well."

"Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama, welcome home." said Kotetsu in surprise. "I'm sure Hokage-sama will be happy to see you here. Please enter."

Jiraiya and the others made their way to the Hokage tower where everyone was stunned to see them. (Particularly Tsunade since as far as they knew she was never coming back). They also curious about Tsunade's mini-me that was looking around with wide eyes taking in all the sights while holding Tsunade's hand. Hiruzen's shocked secretary quickly welcomed them and the Hokage invited them in. Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't have been happier to welcome his two loyal students. "Tsunade-chan, Jiraiya, you don't know how pleased I am to see you. It is good to see you as well Shizune and Mito-chan. I trust you all will be taking up residence in the Senju Compound?"

"Yes sensei, I'll have to unlock the blood seal so we can start cleaning the place." said Tsunade. "I imagine it will take a couple of genin teams or more."

"That's no issue Tsunade." said Hiruzen. "We have much to discuss. Shizune-chan, would you like to show Mito-chan around the village? I bet she would enjoy a tour."

Shizune picked up on the hint and said. "Let's get some food and look around Mito-chan. I'll show you around. We can meet Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama for lunch later."

Hiruzen said, "Let's all meet at the Golden Leaf at one o'clock. I'll treat everyone to lunch." Shizune bowed and excused herself with Mito in tow. "It amazes me how much she looks like you did at that age Tsunade. No doubt she's going to be beautiful as you as well." said Sarutobi with a chuckle. "I have a lot to inform you of. I've been doing a bit of housecleaning so I believe your transition to the position of Hokage will be a smooth one. I already have it approved by the Fire Daimyo…."

….

"….. Shimura Danzo's **dead** and Homura and Koharu are locked up pending **execution** sensei?" said Jiraiya in shock. "What the hell happened?" Tsunade was wide eyed and listening as well.

The Third Hokage chuckled. "Well, I can't take all of the credit. Danzo tried to recruit Hyūga Hanako-sama for his little coup and annoyed her; I trust you remember what happens when she gets _annoyed_ don't you?"

"Damn." said Tsunade. "Did she leave a body in pieces or did Hanako-sama just _erase_ him?" asked Tsunade with a shiver.

"Actually Hanako-chan just stabbed him through the brain with a kodachi." said Sarutobi jovially as his two students cringed. "Danzo had all kinds of illegal and bizarre body modifications that we have evidence are tied with Orochimaru. The autopsy was shocking so I ordered the body to be put into preservation so you could conduct an investigation yourself. As good as Doctor Akira and his team are I know you are better."

Tsunade said, "It sounds like I already have work to do. What about your two advisors? I planned to retire them but I wasn't planning to _execute_ them."

Hiruzen shook his head sadly. "I wasn't planning to either but when we raided Danzo's residence we found all kinds of evidence there implicating them in Danzo's treasonous schemes. They've been undermining my authority for far longer than I care to admit. I didn't want to believe it because we were former teammates but the evidence is irrefutable. Once their interrogations are over they will be erased as 'honorably retired.' I don't want my last act as Hokage to be putting old friends to death publicly."

Tsunade pondered a bit. "It would definitely make a strong statement if it was _my_ first act as Hokage though. Executing traitors and bringing swift justice would do something for my public image…."

"Well, it would certainly keep the malcontents from thinking they could mess with you Tsunade-hime." said Jiraiya scratching his chin. "It also might make Suna think twice about this upcoming war they have planned. With sensei advising you we'll be sure to be prepared for anything they can throw at us and I can start a propaganda campaign through my spy network. Coming out swinging might be a good thing."

"What about candidates for another advisor sensei? Have you picked out anyone suitable?" asked Tsunade.

Sarutobi answered, "Well, I do have someone in mind but I'm not sure she is willing."

"Who is it?" asked Tsunade.

"Hyūga Hanako-chan. As a former ANBU Commander I'm sure she would be a tremendous help in the upcoming conflict." answered Hiruzen with a completely straight face.

That's when Jiraiya started chuckling. "It wouldn't have anything to do with the fact you've had the hots for her for decades would it sensei?"

Hiruzen blushed atomic red and started coughing. He said in a scolding tone, "You know I was always faithful to Biwako-chan!"

Tsunade rested her chin in her hand. "Bless her soul, Biwako-sama passed away fourteen years ago and I know Hanako-sama was divorced before I left." Tsunade smiled slyly. "It might be healthy for you to be involved with her. Aside of the fact you would have some happiness it would do wonders for your cardiovascular system and work those muscles. I'd have no objections." she added with a chuckle.

The Third Hokage was looking faint and said. "Jiraiya has been rubbing off on you Tsunade-chan. I can't believe you of all people would be teasing me about my personal life." He was trying to sound authoritative but was failing utterly much to his student's glee.

Tsunade continued to smile. "I was simply talking from a medical point of view sensei. I'd bet a healthy, active sex life would make you feel twenty years younger. Do you want me to ask Hanako-sama about it?"

 _"WHAAT?! NO!"_ sputtered Hiruzen. "I can ask for a date myself!" he said blushing again.

"I meant about her being an _advisor_ sensei; not your _girlfriend_." said Tsunade stifling her laughter. Jiraiya was laughing openly for his part.

Hiruzen sighed, "I see marriage has brought out the worst traits in both of you. Used to I could always play you off against each other. I am happy for you though. Mito-chan seems to be quite a bright little girl."

"I trust Hanako-sama can be found at the Hyūga compound then?" asked Tsunade.

The Third Hokage shook his head, "I'm afraid she's dwelling at the Natsume Clan Home; things have been rather precarious with the Hyūga Clan of late…."

….

" _Good God!_ " exclaimed Tsunade as she looked over Doctor Akira's report on Hinata and the associated security reports. "I'm surprised the poor child isn't shattered."

"Young Hinata seems to be far stronger than ever thanks to Hanako-chan." said Sarutobi. "Hanako-chan says she is training Hinata to be the next _Raven_. She's already passed the Hakutsume blades to the girl and Hinata-chan has taken to them like a fish to water. She will be absolutely _fearsome_ in the future from what I can tell from her Academy reports."

"Damn, another _Raven_ might be more than Konoha can handle." said Jiraiya. "I remember us three sannin got big headed after we survived against Hanzo the Salamander and she promptly handed us our asses. I was scared of her but Orochimaru was positively _terrified_."

"Orochimaru might _still_ have a fear for her." said Tsunade. "I thought she was awesome once I got out of the hospital. We could _use_ this. Anything that would throw Orochimaru even _a little_ more off his game is a plus for us and could lead him to make mistakes later. I'll pay a visit to Hanako-sama tomorrow."

…..

"So how is my godson sensei?" asked Jiraiya. "It took me years to stomp out the last rumors that a Royal Uzumaki was still alive. I didn't even reveal it to his cousin Nagato in Ame. I damn near died at the hands of the last of the assassination groups. If it hadn't been for Tsunade-hime I'd have lost my life. What did you tell him about me?"

The Third Hokage sighed. "I didn't tell him anything about your relationship with him at all Jiraiya. He was a lonely child and he wouldn't have understood what you were out there doing for his sake. He only recently found out about his burden and his Royal heritage. He was so angry that he rained hell on Konoha through a series of pranks that would have made Kushina envious. Did you notice several of the buildings were painted rather….decoratively when you came into town?"

"Actually we did sensei, I meant to ask about that." said Tsunade.

"We believe through a series of complex seals and shadow clones most of the streets, buildings and even citizens of Konaha were pranked to the point we were essentially paralyzed." said Hiruzen. "Konoha was brought to its knees by the wrath of one angry young man. It was brilliantly planned and executed. Had it been an invasion instead of a prank we would have lost."

Jiraiya and Tsunade's eyes widened. " _Why_ isn't he in prison then sensei?!" asked Tsunade.

"It's quite simple Tsunade-chan." said Hiruzen in a flat tone. "We can't prove he did any of it. ANBU interrogation spent fourteen hours straight trying to crack him and he didn't give an inch. He's proven himself absolutely a genius at fuinjustu. Our ANBU Commander wanted him to head up the ANBU Sealing team but since he's still in the Academy I arranged for him to be the ANBU Sealing Team's sensei instead. His reports on their skill levels have been most discouraging."

Jiraiya couldn't believe his ears. "A _fourteen_ year old boy is that good? I can't believe he'd be better than our ANBU."

Hiruzen sighed. "Do you remember Kushina's black box?"

The toad sannin groaned and said, "How could I forget that infernal thing? I spent months with the team researching it. We never got anywhere."

"Naruto-kun solved it and had it open within fifteen minutes of laying his eyes on it for the first time." said Hiruzen in a flat tone.

"…."

"…."

"…. _IN FIFTEEN MINUTES!"_ roared Jiraiya nearly having an aneurism. " _It's not possible!_ Some of the greatest seal masters in the elemental nations nearly lost their minds over that box! _HOW_ in kami's name did he open that torture device from hell?"

Hiruzen took a puff on his pipe. "As I said, the boy's a fuinjutsu genius. He _is_ an Uzumaki. Have you heard of the Arashi Seal Company?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Of course I have sensei! Their work is absolutely brilliant. Are you saying that Uzumaki Naruto is connected to them?"

He's not _connected_ to them Jiraiya; he _is_ the Arashi Seal Company." said Sarutobi. "He already has over a hundred seal patents and is coming up with more every day. It's truly unbelievable."

"He should be worth millions of ryo then." said Tsunade.

Sarutobi nodded in agreement. "He is but he's keeping it in a secure bank account and is creating seals under a nom de plume to keep is identity safe."

"Why is he using a false name sensei?" asked Tsunade.

Hiruzen said sadly, "Naruto-kun is the village pariah. People hate him for the Kyubi. Even though he's _Royalty_ and is the best seal master I've seen in generations there are places that won't allow him entrance or refuse to serve him. It's horribly unfair and when he found out about it he was absolutely furious with me for hiding the truth all these years. I truly regret it. I hope I can fully make it up to him someday."

"So what was in that ungodly black box anyway sensei?" asked Jiraiya. "I just _have_ to know."

"It was the blades of the Uzumaki Royal Family; the _Shippuuhime_ and _Kurimuzo-kougou_. I've never seen blades anything like them." said Hiruzen.

"They still exist?" asked Tsunade surprised. "The Kurimuzo-kougou was supposed to have been destroyed or sealed away forever by the Uzumaki Clan from what Mito Obaa-sama told me. She said that sword was evil and would accept no master."

Hiruzen nodded. "The Kurimuzo-kougo was sealed _inside_ the Shippuuhime. When Naruto channeled his chakra through it _both_ blades acknowledged him as their master and he was able to unseal the wakazashi from the katana."

"Incredible…." said Tsunade.

"It sounds like we have a lot of explaining to do." said Jiraiya. "I was really looking forward to meeting my godson but now I'm almost afraid to."

"We'll all sit down and discuss it with him together Jiraiya-kun." said Tsunade in a reassuring tone. "After all, I'm his cousin and so is Mito-chan. I bet she'll be really excited to meet him."

"I just hope he doesn't hate me…." thought Jiraiya aloud.

 **Natsume Clan Home, Monday 3 A.M.**

Naruto woke up to his alarm clock and sleepwalked into the bathroom to do his morning rituals. Yesterday evening Maya-chan and Hinata-chan finally got their courage up and explained to him that they hadn't meant to kiss each other and were trying to each give him a kiss on the cheek to make him feel better. Naruto had been both relieved (he still might have a chance with one of them) and disappointed (the Yuri kiss had been incredibly hot to watch and he was _still_ fantasizing about it). At any rate, provided Yūgao sensei didn't try to murder them all for painting her and the others blue Naruto felt it would be an okay day.

 **Konoha Ninja Academy 4 A.M.**

The class sat silently as Yūgao appeared in a body flicker precisely on time as usual. Rather than her regular strict roll call she had a very dreamy smile on her face and said, "I see you all made it. I was _very_ busy this weekend and didn't have time to grade your homework. Please pass your after action reports forward and I'll look them over later. ANBU Commander Dragon told me all twelve of you made it to blue base unscathed so well done." (Truthfully Yūgao was thinking more about that fantastic quickie this morning with Hayate-kun than teaching her class).

Since Yūgao was walking on air all morning it wasn't until sparring that she got serious with her class. Things went smoothly and only a few mystic palm applications were necessary during sparring although Sai did get completely flattened for his new nickname for Choji, 'Thunder Thighs.' It didn't go over too well but Sai seemed back to normal after a nice hour long nap from blunt force head trauma. Yūgao informed Sai never to use that particular nickname again (She wondered if the boy would ever learn). Sai was also wondering why Danzo-sama hadn't summoned him but it was still a well kept secret that Danzo was dead and his cronies would soon be joining him.

 **Breakfast 8 A.M.**

"Your first elective is elemental manipulation but your second elective is teaching a class Naruto?!" asked Kiba. "What is it, _creative pranking?_ "

Shikamaru groaned, "Now that _is_ troublesome. Teaching first year Academy students how to prank people; are they trying to make a generation of terrorists?"

"What are you _really_ teaching Naruto-kun?" asked Emi.

"I'm not permitted to say but I was ordered to teach; not asked." said Naruto. ' _I probably shouldn't have blabbed it to Bunshichi-sensei. Oh well_ …..' "That's why I always leave the last hour of classes is because I have to teach my own."

"Oh come on, you can tell _me_ Naruto-kun." said Emi. "I might join your class and drop demolitions. _Please Naruto-sensei?_ "

"Sorry but I really can't Emi-chan. I don't want to get into trouble with the powers that be. It's truly out of my hands." said Naruto with a shrug. Emi pouted.

The whole class was a bit curious now….

 **Academy Practice Grounds 12 P.M.**

After an hour of water walking and tree climbing (depending on how well each student was doing); the class switched over to basic ninjutsu training.

Sakura and Sai were both practicing a basic water jutsu to manipulate water into a bottle or canteen. Hinata had mastered that exercise already and was practicing a new water technique to her; the water whip jutsu. Since her chakra control was good she was starting to get the hang of it. Ino was also practicing with water whip as well but wasn't as far along.

The earth wall jutsu was Maya's task for the day. Shino, Choji and Shikamaru were all practicing basic earth jutsus as well.

Naruto started with a basic fire jutsu that was useful for starting campfires and other small tasks. He was attempting to master E rank jutsus of various elements and build up. Emi and Kiba were doing the same thing.

Sasuke was practicing the phoenix flower jutsu since he was further along with fire. He managed to get five small fireballs off but they flew wild due to lack of control. Since he was aiming over the water four of them harmlessly fizzled out on the lake but the last one circled about wildly and set Naruto's shirt afire by some fluke. Emi smelled something roasting. ' _Mmmm….Smells like something good is cooking. Is it chicken?_ ' she thought hungrily. ' _Well lunch is just an hour away_ ….'

Then she heard Kiba yell. "Naruto! Your shirt's on fire man!"

When Emi looked over Naruto was already rolling in the dirt to put the fire out. Seeing the shirt was still smoldering Naruto threw the shirt off just as he was hit with a water jutsu from Yūgao to put him out. Yūgao body flickered over and helped him out of his mesh to examine him and started using the mystic palm on the reddened skin. "Are you alright Naruto?" asked Yūgao worriedly. Then she saw Naruto's rapid healing was already kicking in.

"I'm fine sensei; you know I'll be healed up in an hour." said Naruto

Yūgao suddenly got an evil smirk and Naruto got worried. "Everyone who is taking the medical justu class as an elective come over here and practice your mystic palm jutsu on these minor burns." Soon, Ino, Hinata and Sakura were standing there. "Alright girls, get to work!" ordered Yugao. She was counting on the girl's hormonal reactions to Naruto's _wet, naked_ torso. ' _Hahaha! Paint me **blue** will you? I hope those three get in a catfight with you in the middle while they're molesting you brat!_ ' Yūgao's eyes were positively lit up with maniacal glee. On the other hand she wondered just _what_ kind of a workout plan Naruto had. Maybe she could get Hayate-kun to try it….nice and solid….

' ** _Oh,_** _**yes!** **Come to Mama!**_ ' thought Ino with a nose bleed, ' _I'm going to run my hands **all over** that body!_' It took everything Ino had to keep from giggling perversely and drooling as she went to work.

Sakura was trying to be professional but couldn't help but blush. ' _My god he's so, so….I thought that his shirt was just covering the mesh_ ….' Inner Sakura was no help. ' ** _Shannaro!_** _An excuse to feel up a hot guy. I never dreamed Naruto would have all this **muscle** hidden under that orange jump suit!_ '

Hinata thought, ' _Hussies! Stay off my Naruto-kun!_ " She was aroused seeing Naruto-kun shirtless and didn't want anyone else touching him (except Maya-chan and her). Hinata was healing Naruto's back even though she could see Ino was doing her best to feel up Naruto-kun's entire front in the process. ' _Maybe I should just juken these two sluts into oblivion and heal Naruto-kun myself_ ….' thought Hinata darkly.

Naruto was rather self conscious about a bunch of young kunoichis running their hands all over him. Hinata-chan was carefully working on his back although the killing intent she was throwing off was making him nervous. Sakura was healing his arm and was doing a good job but she was blushing and sweating from Hinata's killing intent. Ino was more like a kid in a candy store and her hands had wandered into areas that weren't even burned. She seemed totally oblivious to Hinata's death glare. "Ummm….I wasn't burned there Ino." said Naruto as Ino was running her hands over the side opposite of where he been burned.

"That's okay." said Ino. "I'm trying to be thorough."

Emi wanted to get a good look at Naruto but felt guilty at the same time. Her cousin Choji put a comforting hand on her shoulder and said. "Don't feel bad Emi. My first thought was of roast chicken too."

Maya picked up Naruto's scorched shirt. She wouldn't ha mind enjoying the view herself but he was surrounded by kunoichis and she couldn't see. "Well, this shirt is a total loss." The left side was pretty much charred. "This mesh may need to be replaced too. It's discolored. You'd better get it checked at the ANBU Armory." she told Naruto.

"I'll….I will pay for it. I didn't mean to burn you Uzumaki." said Sasuke with regret in his voice. "Meet me over at the armory after our classes." Sasuke genuinely felt bad. He _did_ want to beat the living shit out of Naruto in a spar but setting him aflame was a bit too much.

Naruto said. "It was an accident Sasuke. I'll meet you at the armory around four-thirty." Naruto didn't seem to bare any ill will. After he assured the girls he was alright Naruto slid his mesh back on and sealed up his charred shirt so they wouldn't have to take measurements again. After that the class went to lunch.

 **Academy Class 203**

Tsubaki-sensei was watching her class as chaos reigned supreme. Since her ex-boyfriend Mizuki vanished she had become involved with Umino Iruka and was very happy. She sighed happily. He treated her like a princess and….Nagi Souichiro (age 12) and his best friend Makihara Bob* (age 12) were causing trouble again. One of the other students was pestering Bob again about his odd name (he was named after his Grandfather that was from Lightning Country) and consequently Bob and Souichiro felt compelled to retaliate through absolute overkill.

In the following series of unfortunate events Takayanagi Masataka (age 13) got clobbered with a desk that he blocked with his body to protect Natsume Aya who was oblivious to his obvious crush on her. "You could have injured Aya-chan!" he yelled. The normally calm and friendly Masataka then lost his temper and shattered the desk with a chakra enhanced strike and things went predictably downhill from there….

Tsubaki having had enough destruction in her classroom for one day focused chakra in her palms and clapped them together causing a sound wave that shocked the class and made their ears ring. "Ouch…." said Aya.

"Now that I have your attention class…." said Tsubaki with a beatific smile she reserved for when the class got punished. "I'm going to retrieve some appropriate punishments for you inappropriate behavior. Ten minutes later she returned with a pile of (unpaid) D-rank missions that the children would have to do after class tonight. (That way Tsubaki could go home and not have to mess with detentions –she knew how to work the system). Tsubaki was soon calling out names and assigning minor tasks. "Souichiro, Bob, Masataka –since you three caused the most destruction you will be sent to the Natsume Clan home to do a D-rank mission for Hyūga Hanako-sama. A stone wall there is in need of repair. I'm placing Masataka in charge since he's the most responsible. Aya; since you live there would you take them to see Hanako-sama?"

Aya smiled and nodded. "Yes sensei. I'm sure Hanako-Obaa-chan will be pleased to have that done so soon."

Masataka said, "I had no idea you were related to the Hyūga Clan Aya-chan."

"I'm not." said Aya. "Hanako Obaa-chan kind of adopted Maya nee-chan and I when she moved in a few months ago. She's great and has taught us a lot."

Souichiro sat down in an open chair and said, "So we get to fix a damaged wall for your sweet old Granny? Sounds easy."

"It's got to be better than cleaning the Inuzuka kennels like last time." commented Bob.

"If you two didn't get violent so much we wouldn't be in this mess." said Masataka in a resigned tone.

"Don't be such a goody two shoes Takayanagi." said Souichiro. "Deep down you enjoy fighting as much as we do."

Aya giggled as the three boys squabbled. While Masataka and Souichiro weren't the best of friends they did have a mutual respect for each other. Bob was convinced Masataka was the only student in Tsubaki's class that could beat both him and Souichiro in a real fight. He did wonder why Masataka showed so much restraint though….then again his best friend was Souichiro who had all the restrain of an exploding tag….

 **ANBU Headquarters 3 P.M.**

Naruto had a lunch of being ogled by the kunoichis in his class and was a bit embarrassed. Even with his mesh covering him he was getting a _lot_ of stares. ' _How does Anko nee-chan stand all the attention?_ ' he wondered. Walking into his classroom he immediately noticed the appreciative stares of the three kunoichis in his class; Mouse, Ferret and Gazeru….Well, actually _Hikari_ now. The two older kunoichis simply were enjoying the eye candy but Hikari was looking at him hungrily…."Hello, class." said Naruto. "Your new calligraphy brushes came in today so we're going to be discussing their qualities and how to care for them before we begin practice today."

Raccoon raised his hand. "Uh, is there a particular reason you showed up dressed in just a mesh shirt today? It isn't _that_ hot out sensei."

Naruto said. "That's a very good but totally irrelevant question. My shirt was set aflame in a training accident earlier today and I didn't have time to pick up another." He turned around so they could see his back. "Note the discoloration of the mesh from the heat? After we finish here I'm going by the armory to pick up a new shirt and get the mesh inspected."

"Were you hurt Naruto-sensei?" asked Hikari in a worried tone.

"I'm fine." said Naruto. "Thank you for asking. There are several aspiring medics in my class and I was just singed."

"Enough heat to discolor mesh that much isn't _just singed_ Naruto-sensei." said Mouse.

Naruto growled. " _I believe we are here to learn **fuinjutsu** …?_" The killing intent washed over them and everyone in the class quieted down. "Okay then; these are your new brushes. Let's start by passing them out and discussing their features…."

 **ANBU Armory, after class** ….

"Um, you really didn't have to escort me here Hikari." said Naruto as he was unknowingly being ogled by his student.

Hikari flashed him a winning smile. "I need a new flak vest anyway sensei. This one's almost shot so I was headed this way anyway." ' _And maybe I can get to know you better Naruto-sensei_.' she thought to herself.

Taro was reading an _Icha Icha_ Novel with his feet propped up on the desk when Naruto and Hikari walked in. He looked up and said, "Uzumaki, Tomoe; you needing some new gear?"

"I'm afraid I need a new flak vest. This one's worn out and it's getting a bit tight around the bust line anyway." said Hikari. She was pleased to see Naruto blushing slightly as she took off her vest and showed her sizable cleavage.

Taro said, "I'll call Mura so we can get something for you." He turned to Naruto, "Needing a shirt or something Uzumaki?"

"Actually I do." said Naruto flatly. "I got set on fire earlier today so my shirt got charred and my mesh is damaged. I need it inspected to see if it needs to be replaced."

"Well, go ahead and take off the mesh so I can examine it." said Taro. "If it needs to be replaced Mura will get it; otherwise I might be able to repair it."

' _Now this is what I'm talking about!_ ' thought Hikari with a mental giggle. About the time Naruto started unfastening his mesh Mura appeared and grabbed Hikari by the collar. ' _No!_ ' wailed Hikari in mental anguish as Mura dragged her to the back.

"Come _on_ Tomoe!" growled the 'always friendly' Mura. "You want a new flak jacket and I have to measure you. I haven't got all damn day!" They vanished through the double doors.

Soon Taro was looking over the mesh. "This mesh may need to be replaced; I might be able to patch the damaged areas to save you a few ryo but it wouldn't be as protective. I'd love to see the shirt that was over this mess." he said. Naruto unsealed the charred shirt and handed it over. Taro whistled. "You're lucky you don't have serious burns or scarring Uzumaki."

"I heal fast you know." said Naruto. He motioned towards his stomach and Taro nodded.

"Mmmm….still pretty amazing." said Taro. "Most people would have needed serious medical attention with this."

The door opened and Sasuke came in. Taro looked up from the damage and said, "I'll be with _you_ in a minute Uchiha- _san_." It seemed Sasuke hadn't made the best impression on Taro in the past.

Sasuke just shuffled his feet and said, "I'm just here to pay for Naruto's new stuff; I kind of burned him a little earlier today."

Taro then perked up and said, "You **definitely** need this mesh shirt replaced Uzumaki. It's **way** too far gone." Naruto hid a small smirk from Sasuke. "Tell Mura you need a full set of **type two** since it's more fire resistant. I trust that won't be outside your budget Uchiha?"

"No; no. It's fine." said Sasuke absentmindedly. It was obvious he would rather be elsewhere.

Taro slipped Naruto a piece of paper. "Give Mura this and she'll get you taken care of." Naruto slipped his damaged mesh back on.

About five minutes later Hikari came out wearing her much improved new flak jacket. "What do you think Naruto-sensei?" she asked as she twirled once for Naruto.

Naruto blushed slightly again. ' _Is it just me or is that jacket more tailored for a kunoichi?_ ' "It looks really nice Hikari. It's much better than your old one."

"I think so too." she said with a smile. It's kunoichi cut so-"

"You can visit later." said Mura grumbling. "Come on Uzumaki; let's get you fitted out again." Naruto handed her the slip of paper from Taro and she read it. She suddenly glanced over at Sasuke for a second and then smiled. It wasn't a friendly smile but an evil one. Naruto felt fear. "This way Uzumaki." She said chuckling in a disturbing way.

Sasuke couldn't help but notice the stunning blonde Hikari and the fact she addressed Naruto as _sensei_. Since she paid for her jacket and sat down to wait for Naruto; Sasuke decided to talk to her. "Hello, who might you be? I don't recognize you from our trainee class but you have ANBU gear." Acting oblivious, Sasuke said, "I do wonder why you'd address Naruto as sensei though."

Hikari said, "I'm Tomoe Hikari and I'm in ANBU." She showed her ANBU tattoo on her right shoulder. "That is why you don't recognize me."

"Well, I guess you must recognize me." said Sasuke smugly.

Hikari looked at him for a moment and thought, ' _Who is this arrogant person?_ ' "Um, no actually. I have no idea who you are." Sasuke looked shocked and Taro had to cover up his laughter with a cough.

Sasuke said, "I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I'm very pleased to meet you Hikari." as he held out his hand to shake.

Hikari looked like she was trying to place him. "I guess I would have recognized you if you had the Uchiha fan on your back….Anyway, nice to make your acquaintance." she said as she shook his hand.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he felt as if his hand was being crushed. ' _Good god she has a grip like a steel vice!_ ' Trying to shake his hand nonchalantly to get some feeling back in it, he said, "I couldn't help but notice you addressed Naruto as _sensei_ , I was just curious as to why. What could a genin in training possibly teach a fully fledged ANBU such as yourself?" He was half expecting an answer like she was still in training herself. Sasuke figured she wasn't any older than him after all.

"Naruto sensei is quite brilliant and he is teaching many of us." she said with a dreamy look on her face.

"So what is he teaching you? I mean; his grades certainly aren't on par with mine." said Sasuke trying to impress her.

Her green eyes flashed. "That information is _classified_ Uchiha. It is on a need to know basis only and you _don't_ need to know."

Sasuke recoiled a bit at her forcefulness. "Sorry; I didn't realize it was classified."

She narrowed her eyes for a second and said, "No harm done then, but don't go asking around. You could end up is serious trouble."

 **Meanwhile with Naruto** ….

He was naked….again. "Damn it boy; you're growing _everywhere!"_ grumped Mura. "All my measurements on record are useless. Here's your new protective underwear and your new combat grade mesh; try them on." After she checked his underwear and afterwards his new mesh that was much higher quality (ANBU Combat grade) Mura spun and punched Naruto in the gut. Naruto really didn't budge. "Good, you're progressing nicely Uzumaki. You're growing evenly and your muscles are rock solid. I bet you'll turn out yet."

Naruto asked, "You almost seem….approving Mura. What's the deal? –And do I need bigger shirts and pants?"

Mura shrugged. "You can get by with the shirts and pants; they're designed to be nice and snug for easy movement and have plenty of stretch. As for my mood, everything is being charged to the Uchiha; what's not to like?"

"Did Sasuke piss you off or something?" asked Naruto.

"When we were fitting your class out, the brat strutted in here at the last possible second and insisted we address him as Uchiha-sama for starters." said Mura. "Then he insisted we add the Uchiha fan crest to all his shirts and his flak jacket. I kicked the punk out on his ass and threw his clothes out on the street after him. The village may kiss his ass but Taro and I sure as hell won't. You're good to go Uzumaki. We'll credit your old mesh pants to your account for later. They would have started riding up in the crotch something terrible before long considering how you're growing."

Naruto blushed. "Well ummm….thanks Mura."

Mura nodded. "No problem; now get out." said the short woman. "I have work to do."

POSTSCRIPT:

*EDIT: Makihara Bob is a Tenjho Tenge character, not an OC. If he was an OC I would have given him a Japanese name.

Well, this was a good stopping point. Once I'm off this exclusive marathon with Curse of the Ryugan I'm going the try and update it, Lunar Eclipse, Dragon's Maw and Magik one chapter at a time like I was before which would translate into one chapter a month from all four stories. Next chapter we'll see how Aya's classmates do one their D-ranked mission for Hanako. We'll also learn more about Hikari's background as well as when Tsunade is going to take the mantle of the Fifth Hokage. And the important question; would Konoha survive having former ANBU Commder Raven as an advisor to the Hokage? See you next chapter. Blue out. 6/13/15


	15. Chapter 15

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

We're going to see a bit more interaction from Aya's classmates this chapter. I figure in the next two to three chapters we'll finally see the genin teams picked out and assigned as well. Here's chapter 15:

Last time:

 ** _Meanwhile with Naruto_** _…._

 _He was naked….again. "Damn it boy; you're growing everywhere!" grumped Mura. "All my measurements on record are useless. Here's your new protective underwear and your new combat grade mesh; try them on." After she checked his underwear and afterwards his new mesh that was much higher quality (ANBU Combat grade) Mura spun and punched Naruto in the gut. Naruto really didn't budge. "Good, you're progressing nicely Uzumaki. You're growing evenly and your muscles are rock solid. I bet you'll turn out yet."_

 _Naruto asked, "You almost seem….approving Mura. What's the deal? –And do I need bigger shirts and pants?"_

 _Mura shrugged. "You can get by with the shirts and pants; they're designed to be nice and snug for easy movement and have plenty of stretch. As for my mood, everything is being charged to the Uchiha; what's not to like?"_

 _"Did Sasuke piss you off or something?" asked Naruto._

 _"When we were fitting your class out, the brat strutted in here at the last possible second and insisted we address him as Uchiha-sama for starters." said Mura. "Then he insisted we add the Uchiha fan crest to all his shirts and his flak jacket. I kicked the punk out on his ass and threw his clothes out on the street after him. The village may kiss his ass but Taro and I sure as hell won't. You're good to go Uzumaki. We'll credit your old mesh pants to your account for later. They would have started riding up in the crotch something terrible before long considering how you're growing."_

 _Naruto blushed. "Well ummm….thanks Mura."_

 _Mura nodded. "No problem; now get out." said the short woman. "I have work to do."_

 **Chapter 15**

 **Konoha, ANBU Armory 5 P.M.**

" _IT COSTS_ ** _HOW_** _MUCH?!_ " shrieked Sasuke as Taro rang him up with a shit eating grin. Naruto and Hikari had already left and heard Sasuke screeching all the way down the block. Naruto _almost_ felt guilty…. _almost_.

"I had no idea Sasuke's voice could go that high." said Naruto with a chuckle. "I bet he could become a soprano singer if he ever quits being a ninja."

Hikari was stifling a fit of giggles. "That's cruel Naruto-sensei!"

"I guess a new set of mesh cost more than I realized…." added Naruto absentmindedly.

 **Natsume Clan Home, 5 P.M.**

Aya led her classmates back to the Natsume residence to meet Hanako and to do their D-ranked mission and introduced them. "Hanako Obaa-sama; this is Takayanagi Masastaka (Masataka bowed), Makihara Bob (Bob bowed to a lesser degree) and Nagi Souichiro (who just stood there)."

Hanako nodded. "So you three have been assigned to fix that damaged wall?"

"Yes Hanako-sama, just tell us what to do." said Masataka respectfully.

Bob nodded, "Yes ma'am; that's what we're here for."

"…." said Souichiro.

"Say _something_ Nagi!" whispered Masataka.

Souichiro said, "Yo, how's it hangin' Granny?" The sound of a **_SSMMAACCKK_!** echoed across the Natsume estate as Souichiro's head went down to the ground.

" _Let me show you three children your appointed task_ …." said Hanako with a bit of killer intent. "Head into the house Aya-chan; you have things to do. _I'll_ watch over them."

Things went predictably downhill from there….

 **With Naruto and Hikari….**

"You really should have been wearing your flak vest Naruto-sensei; it would have prevented the fire from doing so much damage. Are you sure that you are okay sensei?"

Naruto replied, "Yeah, I'm just fine. It's the first time I've gone without my vest. I've learned my lesson. Fire is bad."

She giggled slightly. "Well, as long as you are all right Naruto-sensei; that's the important thing."

"You don't have to call me sensei outside of class Hikari." said Naruto. "I'm not one for formalities anyway. Just call me Naruto when we're not in class. It makes me feel kind of old."

Hikari smirked. "Then I should call you Naruto- _kun_ then since we're close to the same age?" she asked with a slight blush.

"That would be fine." said Naruto.

' _Yes!_ ' thought Hikari as she smiled happily, "So what do you like to eat Naruto-kun? I'm kind of hungry."

"Ramen –especially from Ichiraku's." declared Naruto with passion. "It is the _Food of the Gods!_ Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Have you ever eaten there?"

"Well, no….I'm a big sushi fan myself." said Hikari. "But I'll be happy to try it if you like it so much. I've only had instant ramen and it's okay."

"Ah…." Naruto said sagely, "Then we have to get you some of the ambrosia known as seafood ramen for you at Ichiraku's Hikari. I'll even pay since it's your first time eating the _Food of the Gods_. Don't be convinced by others like Anko-chan that dango is though. She's not a true believer."

Hikari looked a little shocked. "Anko-chan…? As in Mitarashi Anko from torture and interrogation?" ' _Is he into older women?_ ' she thought worriedly.

Naruto nodded. "Yep, that's her! Mitarashi Anko is my adopted nee-chan and we generally get along really well but she keeps trying to convert me to the evils of dango despite my efforts to lead her down the true path of ramen! It's absolutely blasphemous."

Feeling very relieved, Hikari said, "So she is your big sister huh? It sounds like you two have an interesting relationship….Let's go to this Ichiraku's Ramen you love so much!"

Hikari immensely enjoyed having an early dinner with Naruto….She had to admit the Seafood Ramen was pretty good too….

 **Natsume Clan Home, 9 P.M.**

 **Naruto's room** **….**

Naruto had been sound asleep for a couple of hours when one of his proximity seals woke him up. He quickly made a shadow clone; body switched with it and concealed himself in the darkness. Two ANBU appeared and pounced on the shadow clone only to be hit by a mass of shock tags that rendered the two of them unconscious. Naruto hit the emergency seal that silently locked down the house….

 **Hinata's room** **….**

One ANBU was laying in the fetal position in the floor and another was badly cut up from Hinata's Hakutsume blades. He was breathing heavily as he looked over the unconscious Hinata. He got in a lucky shot and was able to knock her out with a blow to the head. He looked over at his partner and said quietly, "How bad is it man?"

"I've been stabbed in the intestines. I need a medic bad." said his partner. "I was told we were 'kidnapping' Academy students. She had those fucking kodachis out and was waiting for us."

"I wonder what tipped her off." said the first. "I'll body flicker us to the hospital along with the Hyūga heiress." he said as he picked up Hinata and placed a hand on his downed partner….and found he _couldn't_ body flicker out….

 **Maya's room** **….**

Maya was unconscious due to being knocked out against her wall by a brutal punch. An ANBU was kneeling on the floor holding her chest. Despite her flak vest she had more than a couple of broken ribs. The Natsume style of taijutsu was truly brutal. Her partner was pinned to the wall with the Reiki stabbed through his shoulder and was swearing up a storm to himself under his breath. "I can't _believe_ this! A _fucking little girl_ almost _killed_ us! Commander Dragon is going to be pissed." His partner pulled the Reiki out of his arm and he gasped in pain. "What is Yūgao _feeding_ these little savages? She was _waiting_ for us! _God damn it!_ "

They soon found out they couldn't body flicker out either….

 **Naruto's room** **….**

Naruto had restraining seals and chakra seals on the two ANBU that tried to break in. They weren't going anywhere. He had his full combat gear on now and was planning to interrogate them once he finished checking the rest of the house. Naruto thought to himself that he needed to improve security measures. He had no idea why ANBU would be attacking but they could be enemy ANBU and Naruto would be damned before he let any of his precious people be hurt. He silently slipped down the hall to Hinata's room and listened through the door. "What do you mean we can't get out with a body flicker?! I'm going to bleed out at this rate and you're cut to ribbons! We have to get _out!_ "

The blonde heard all he needed to hear and flung the door open with an immobilizing seal in his hand. Naruto slapped down the seal and then he saw Hinata-chan lying there limply on the floor with blood around her and feared the worst. The two ANBU froze in fear when the Kyubi container's eyes lit up red and slitted in the darkness. His Royal blades were out in an instant. The killing intent was crushing them. " ** _I AM GOING TO KILL YOU SLOWLY_** …." he hissed in a tone that chilled them to the marrow. Kurimuzo-kougou's edge was glowing red in the presence of spilled blood and Shippuuhime's edge was glowing blue due to chakra being fed to it. In the darkness he looked like a warrior straight out of hell itself….

Naruto heard Hanako's voice say in a commanding tone behind him. " _Put your weapons away Naruto-kun_. This is an exercise for your class. Hinata-chan is only unconscious. **_Stand down now_**." Her voice was hard as iron and after a few seconds Naruto looked back at her and put his swords away after locking eyes with her a few seconds.

Seeing Naruto was no longer going to slaughter the ANBU, Hanako asked, "Why are you two ANBU just sitting there looking like frightened rabbits?"

"W-we can't move Hanako-sama. We are anchored to the floor." said one of the frightened ANBU.

Hanako sighed and looked at Naruto. "Is this your doing Naruto-kun?" she asked tiredly. Naruto nodded and deactivated the immobilizer seal holding them to the floor so Hanako could enter the room. She flicked on the lights and walked in. "This simulation is over. Why didn't you two go to the hospital?" She asked looking at all the blood.

The less injured ANBU said, "We couldn't body flicker out Hanako-sama! The-"

"I locked the House down Hanako Obaa-chan." Naruto said angrily. "They won't be able to body flicker out until they physically get off the property."

"Please deactivate it Naruto-kun." said Hanako. "This one has a deep stomach wound and needs serious medical attention."

"Alright…." growled Naruto. He headed back towards his room and Hanako went to Maya's room to find they were also injured.

"Hanako-sama?" asked the one with the wounded shoulder.

Hanako shook her head and said, "Get up Maya-chan; I can tell you are conscious." Maya opened her eyes and rubbed her chest where she'd been punched before. "You two ANBU report to the hospital that your mission has failed as soon as the field drops that prevents you from body flickering out of here."

Soon the field was dropped and the ANBU in Maya and Hinata's rooms were gone leaving a banged up Maya and Hinata. Naruto was still undoing the seals on the last two when ANBU Dragon arrived and knocked on the front door. Hanako was glowering at him when he arrived. "I see standards have fallen since my time Dragon. Naruto-kun is unsealing the last two as we speak."

Soon the three kids were sitting in front of Dragon who looked rather sheepish under Hanako's glare. "The object of this exercise was to see how you twelve Academy students reacted to being abducted and put in an unfamiliar environment. Each of you had two ANBU to 'kidnap' you and unfortunately there have been a lot of casualties. It was a cock up from the beginning I'm afraid and several people are in the hospital. Please report to class normally tomorrow and Yūgao will give you your grades." Dragon then vanished in a body flicker.

 **Yūgao and Hayate's Apartment 12 A.M.**

Yūgao was looking over the incoming reports in disbelief:

….

PRELIMINARY REPORT:

Aburame Shino -Two ANBU agents captured due to swarms of kikaichū beetles attacking –now in recovery do to chakra exhaustion –student Shino unhurt –capture unsuccessful

Akimichi Choji –Two ANBU agents were forced to abort their mission due to the interference of student Isuzu Emi –capture unsuccessful

Haruno Sakura –Two ANBU agents successfully captured student Sakura with no injuries to any party –capture successful

Hyūga Hinata –Two ANBU agents injured (one severely) due to sword wounds –currently being treated –student Hinata mildly injured and rendered unconscious –both agents captured due to intervention by student Uzumaki Naruto –capture unsuccessful

Inuzuka Kiba –Two Anbu Agents mauled (one severely) by student and his ninken Akamaru –currently being treated –student Kiba in hospital with left arm broken –capture successful but student needed medical treatment

Isuzu Emi –Two ANBU agents severely injured due to multiple kunai wounds –currently being treated –student Emi unhurt –capture unsuccessful

Nara Shikamaru -Two ANBU agents successfully captured student Shikamaru with no injuries to any party –capture successful

Natsume Maya –Two ANBU agents injured by taijutsu and one severely injured by sword wound –currently being treated –student Maya mildly injured and rendered temporarily unconscious –both agents captured due to intervention by student Uzumaki Naruto –capture unsuccessful

Sai –Two ANBU agents unable to locate him, home only occupied by an ink clone -mission aborted after search –capture unsuccessful

Uchiha Sasuke –Two ANBU agents suffered minor injuries by taijutsu –student Sasuke rendered unconscious –capture successful

Uzumaki Naruto – Two ANBU agents captured due to complex seal arrays –minor injuries – student Naruto unhurt –capture unsuccessful

Yamanaka Ino -Two ANBU agents successfully captured student Ino with no injuries to any party –capture successful

….

"Gods, what a clusterfuck." groaned Yūgao. "I recommended against this idea because I was afraid my students might get hurt but it looks like the ANBU ended up on the short end of the stick. It looks like Kiba's going to be in the hospital. I'll have to visit him tomorrow. I'll go ahead and get the others sent home. Ino, Shikamaru, Sasuke and Sakura are hardly a big enough group to provide an accurate study. I have to wonder what Emi did to injure those two ANBU that bad; it must be a hidden technique."

The net result of all this was Naruto and his entire class where known by the name ' _The ANBU Brats_.' For better or for worse they now had a reputation that stuck. They already had that as a nickname but now it was said with some genuine respect/fear.

 **Konoha Ninja Academy, 4 A.M.**

"Good morning class." said a rather subdued Yūgao. Her entire class was glaring at her and looked mutinous except for Sai that had his usual fake smile. Everyone was present but Kiba and Akamaru. "Let me start this day off by saying the plans to capture all of you last night was not my idea and I was against it. Kiba is currently in the hospital with his left forearm broken as a result of this disaster and several ANBU were seriously injured. I need after action reports from each of you so we'll be spending the first couple of hours today doing that. Our normal class schedule will be a little off today as a result." said Yūgao. "For what it's worth I was very impressed with your performance in the unfavorable situations you were put in as only five of you were actually captured."

Shino raised his hand and Yūgao motioned him to speak. "Can you inform us of the actual point in this simulation sensei; I for one much wonder what the intent of it all was." The rest of the class murmured in agreement.

Yūgao sighed. "The intent of this operation was to capture you all unharmed and place you in an area where you would have to live off the land while you went back to Konoha. Obviously it failed. I have the intention of setting you all up for a two or three day survival exercise but you would have all of your gear and wouldn't be attacked in your beds. As I said; the operation last night was ill-conceived. The ANBU that were sent to capture you were to use non-lethal techniques to abduct you without injuring you. The majority of you reacted with extreme violence –which is appropriate actually- at any rate your would be captors were caught totally off guard and suffered many injuries as a result."

"Let's get those after action reports done and then we will have some class discussion about it." said Yūgao as she passed out the papers. "This can still be a valuable learning experience even if it all went wrong."

 **Academy Cafeteria, 8 A.M.**

As they were eating breakfast Sasuke came over to the table Naruto was eating at and said loudly, "So who was the _hot blonde_ you were with yesterday Uzumaki? I didn't know you had a girlfriend."

Everyone stopped eating and stared. Hinata, Maya and Emi all got tense (so did Ino as she had become interested of late)….and Naruto got a totally puzzled look on his face as if he was trying to remember something.

"…." said Naruto glaze eyed.

Sasuke was smirking, ' _I'll have Maya yet!_ ' he thought triumphantly. ' _Not that I think Naruto's smart enough to be some kind of player. Kami only knows why some poor girl would be interested in a loser like him. Now that I think about it Hikari-san should be interested in me now that she knows who_ ** _I_** _am_ …. _I might just ask her out just to spite him. She_ _is_ _attractive enough to be a mistress later_ ….'

Naruto suddenly got a look of realization on his face. "Are you talking about Tomoe Hikari? She's one of my students in my class and we both needed to stop by the armory together after class. She needed a new flak vest." Then Naruto got a gleam in his eye. "Don't tell me you were _stalking_ me Sasuke- _chan_. You don't know how violated that makes me feel. I told you before I'm straight and don't want to be the object of your affections and fantasies."

Sasuke turned red and yelled " _I am not_ ** _stalking_** _you damn it!_ "

"Pipe down and stop stirring up trouble Uchiha." growled Yūgao. "Sit back down at your table and eat unless you want to run laps the rest of breakfast." Sasuke cursed to himself mentally and returned to his place.

Yūgao thought to herself, ' _Gazeru eh? Tomoe is a lot like I was; she started out really young and didn't have anyone she was close to. Come to think of it I fell in love with my teacher Hayate-kun. It's been a while since I sparred with her. Maybe we can chat a bit about Naruto_.'

….

Somewhere in Konoha ANBU Gazeru sneezed. "….Somebody must be talking about me…." ' _I hope it's Naruto-kun! I had a lot of fun yesterday_.' she thought smiling behind her mask.

….

 **Academy Class 203**

Souichiro, Bob and Masataka were talking before class started at nine. Well, it was more like they were groaning to each other in misery…. "That old woman is positively evil! What a slave driver. My sore muscles have sore muscles!" said Souichiro.

Masataka sighed. He ached all over too. "It would have helped if you'd refrained from calling her _Granny_ instead of Hanako-sama or at least Hanako-san."

"I can't believe she wanted that wall so perfect!" said Bob. "Of course when Souichiro objected she smacked him on top of the head and he ate the dirt."

"That old hag hit hard!" said Souichiro. "I felt like I was being hit on the head with a frying pan!"

"….And she did it so effortlessly with just an open palm." added Masataka. "She must be a retired kunoichi. Aya-chan said Hanako-sama was teaching her and her older sister."

Bob nodded. "She hit me _once_ man; that was enough to convince me to work hard. I can't believe you asked her for ' _milk and cookies 'cause she's a Granny'_ when we were done Souichiro! When she smacked you that last time it sent you flying into a flat spin! I thought you were dead!"

"Well, she certainly didn't appreciate it." groaned Masataka. "I couldn't believe she pointed to a drainage ditch out back and told us to get a drink of water there if we were that thirsty. I was ready to hang myself."

"The old bat was hardcore, that's for sure." said Souichiro. "My ears rang for hours after that last hit. I wonder just how strong she is? She didn't break a sweat smacking us around. How many times did she hit me anyway? It's all a blur now."

"Eight times." said Bob and Masataka in unison.

They heard Aya's melodic laughter as she listened to them. "You three should be glad Hanako Obaa-chan was just disciplining you instead of her being actually being upset with you. That was only her shadow clone anyway."

Masataka got wide eyed. "You mean we were only dealing with a _clone? Just how strong is she?!_ "

"Actually I don't know how strong Obaa-chan is." said Aya. "I saw her actually lose her temper with Naruto-kun once and he was bedridden for the rest of the day."

Souichiro asked, "Who is this Naruto character anyway? Sounds like a pussy to me losing that easily."

Aya got a cute frown. "Naruto-kun is one of the advanced genin class. He's the toughest person I've ever met when it comes to taking punishment."

Bob whistled. "He's in the advanced genin class? Damn."

"What's that?" asked Souichiro.

Masataka explained, "They're the ones called _The ANBU Brats_ that all the rumors are floating around about."

"You know one of them?" Souichiro asked Aya with raised eyebrows.

Aya said smugly, "I know _three_ of them. There's Uzumaki Naruto-kun who is called ' _The Prankster King from Hell_ ,' my nee-chan Natsume Maya and my adoptive nee-chan Hyūga Hinata who is Obaa-chan's actual blood granddaughter. When I watch them spar I always am amazed that no one's been killed. They are _scary_ strong and they are only a couple of years older than us."

 _"_ ** _The_** _'Prankster King from Hell'_ Aya?" asked Souichiro with stars in his eyes.

"Um….Yes, I don't think there is another." said Aya with raised eyebrows.

Souichiro turned to Bob. "Bob, we've _got_ to meet this guy! He's the orange wearing dude that set old man Kato's entire house's plumbing in reverse a few years back! Remember all the sewage coming out the top floor of his house?! It was **genius** and it cost that old bastard a fortune!"

"How could I forget?" groaned Bob. "I live _downwind_ of Kato's place. I had to crash at your place it stank so bad. I heard they never proved it was that orange wearing blonde that did it though and he got off scot free."

Aya giggled, "That _does_ sound like something Naruto-kun would do and he _did_ run around in an orange jumpsuit till recently."

"That sounds awful." said Masataka.

"Old man Kato is the nastiest, meanest old son of a bitch I've ever met." said Souichiro. "He owns the Fish Market and deserves every bit of pain he gets."

That's when Tsubaki overheard her student's discussion and entered their conversation. "While I don't approve of that kind of language in my classroom Souichiro; I can't help but share the sentiment."

Masataka raised his eyebrows. "Seriously Tsubaki-sensei? This Kato-san is that bad?"

Tsubaki nodded. "I'm afraid so Takayanagi. His business practices are reprehensible and the way he treats others is worse. If he didn't have a corner on the fish market he'd have been run out of business or murdered years ago."

"I guess that's why Naruto-kun dislikes him so much." said Aya thoughtfully. "There are very few people I think Naruto-kun truly hates; he's usually easygoing but he is a prankster."

"Are you talking about Uzumaki Naruto?" asked Tsubaki. "My boyfriend Iruka-kun used to be his sensei and he's told me some crazy stories of adventures chasing Uzumaki all over Konoha due to pranking sprees. Iruka-kun says in spite of all the trouble he causes that Uzumaki is a good person though."

"Naruto-kun _is_ a good person." said Aya. "He'll do anything to protect his precious people. He lives with us at the Natsume Clan Home. Hanako-Obaa-chan disciplined him in manners for quite awhile but he considers her his own Obaa-chan now." Aya smiled. "They kind of adopted each other I guess."

 **Konoha Ninja Academy, after classes**

Aya was headed out with Souichiro, Bob and Masataka in tow and was surprised to see Maya and Hinata waiting for her. "Maya nee-chan; Hinata nee, were you waiting for me?"

Maya smiled at her sister. "Yep, we're just waiting on Naruto-kun and we can all head home together."

"Where is Naruto-kun? Doesn't he get out of class at the same time as you?" asked Aya.

"Naruto-kun's last class is at a different location." explained Hinata. "He should be along in a few minutes. Are these your friends?"

Aya nodded. "This is Takayanagi Masataka, Makihara Bob and Nagi Souichiro. They are my classmates."

"I recognize you three." said Maya with a grin. "Weren't you the ones that were being smacked around by Hanako Obaa-chan's clone while you were fixing the wall yesterday?"

Bob and Masataka had rainclouds over their heads ' _This is what we are known for?_ ' they thought sadly.

"She's not that tough!" said Souichiro defiantly.

"I think all those love taps she put on your head must have jumbled up your brain Nagi." laughed Maya. "You were stumbling around like a drunk when you left yesterday."

Hinata giggled. "Hanako Obaa-chan is very strict on proper decorum. You were probably being disrespectful to her weren't you Nagi-san?"

"Just call me Souichiro." he said. "I was just calling her Granny. What are you all doing in ANBU gear anyway?"

Bob shook his head. " _ANBU Brats_ remember Souichiro?"

Hinata sighed. "That name really has stuck hasn't it Maya-chan?"

Maya shrugged. "I just hope it goes away once we graduate. I'd really rather not be referred to as a _Brat_ out in the field."

Masataka asked, "So you're allowed to carry swords into class? That's really unusual."

Actually we are _required_ to carry them. It's not an option." said Hinata. She activated her byakugan which made the three boys jump a bit. "Ah, here comes Naruto-kun now."

They soon saw Naruto coming around the corner from the direction of ANBU Headquarters. "Naruto-kun!" said Hinata as she waved.

Naruto smiled at them and jogged over. "Sorry, did you girls wait long?"

Maya shook her head. "No, not long. We were just talking with Aya-chan's friends while we waited."

The group soon decided to go to the Akimichi Barbeque restaurant and have an early dinner….

 **Natsume Clan Home, meanwhile** ….

"Thank you for allowing me to serve here once again Hanako-sama." said Natsu bowing to Hanako repeatedly. "Providing me with those sealing scrolls made moving in incredibly easy and the room is very nice as well."

Hanako said. "You should be thanking Maya-sama for your comfortable room and Naruto-kun for _making_ those scrolls for your use, not me. Know this Natsu-san; if you are here to convince Hanabi-chan that she should come home I _will_ strike you down. I'm still not convinced this is simply a kind gesture on Hiashi's behalf."

Natsu was sweating. "I assure you I will earn your trust Hanako-sama."

"We shall see." said Hanako. "I do expect you to thank both Maya-sama and Naruto-kun though. His scrolls made it incredibly easy for me to move."

Natsu said, "Uzumaki-san actually _made_ those scrolls? They weren't purchased?"

Hanako nodded. "You will find that young Naruto-kun is quite brilliant and is a very good person if you get over your bias against him. I think you'll find his fuinjutsu skills quite innovative. There is a _reason_ this house is so clean."

The kunoichi/maid didn't quite follow but nodded anyway. "Hanako-sama; Hiashi-sama told me that any of Hinata-sama or Hanabi-sama's belongings could be brought over. I will be happy to do so if you wish. They basically came over with the clothes on their backs and it seems improper given they each have very large wardrobes for all occasions at home. Would you like me to do so?"

"That is between you and the girls Natsu-san." said Hanako. "If they want their belongings then you may fetch them provided there are no objections from the Natsumes."

"Why would they object Hanako-sama?" asked Natsu.

Hanako frowned. "Perhaps because this is _their_ house Natsu? We are guests here and we are not to take advantage of their hospitality. I would think being raised as a Hyūga main house member it would be obvious to you."

"Of course." said Natsu. "I apologize for my unseemly behavior."

"Just get your things unpacked." said the elder of the pair. "You will find things are quite different here than at the Hyūga Compound. Off with you now." said Hanako as she waved Natsu off.

Natsu bowed and headed towards her new room. ' _It seems that Hanako-sama has very little faith in me or the Hyūga Clan in general. I will have to work hard to earn her trust just as Hiashi-sama told me. I wonder if Hinata-sama will ever forgive Ko-san. She seems like a different person since she left. She was a shy, stuttering girl then and now she's almost like dealing with a younger version of Hanako-sama_.' Natsu soon entered her new room in the Natsume Clan Home. It was slightly larger than her old one and had a warm, cozy feel. Of course the thing she noticed first as an OCD maid was the fact the hardwood floors were _spotless_. So spotless in fact that Natsu couldn't help but look for scuff marks or dust. ' ** _How_** _is this possible?_ ' she wondered. Ah, the magic of fuinjutsu….

 **5 P.M.**

Hinata-sama and the others hadn't arrived home yet and Hanabi-sama was studying with Hanako-sama. Natsu heard a knocking at the front door and decided that even though she hadn't _officially_ started yet as the house maid that she would answer the door. Answering it she recognized Uchiha Sasuke who was dressed rather formally with the Uchiha fan prominently displayed on his clothing. She'd never met the boy personally but she definitely knew no one else would be wearing _that_ crest. ' _What would bring Uchiha Sasuke all the way out here?_ ' "I bid you greetings Uchiha-san. May I help you in some way?"

Sasuke was impressed. ' _The Natsume Clan employs a Hyūga maid? I'm surprised to even see a Hyūga outside of their compound._ ' Hello there Hyūga-san. Please inform Natsume Maya-sama that Uchiha Sasuke-sama is here to see her." he said in a congenial but somehow egotistical tone.

Natsu wondered exactly what he wanted and wasn't that fond of Uchihas anyway due to old clan rivalries. "I regret to inform you that Maya-sama is not home Uchiha- _san_. Would you like me to pass a message to her when she comes home?"

Sasuke wanted to growl at the intentional disrespect on the part of this maid. He would have to convince Maya to dismiss her later. "Can you tell me where Maya-sama might be then Hyūga?"

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say." said Natsu (truthfully all she knew was Hinata-sama and the others were going to be late and were having dinner out). "As I said I can pass along a message for you."

The Last Uchiha was officially steamed but didn't want to make a scene on the doorstep of the girl he was courting (not that _Maya_ knew about it). "Please just tell her that _Uchiha Sasuke-sama stopped by and I will see her in class tomorrow_."

Natsu smiled rather smugly knowing he was fuming. "I will do so Uchiha- _san_. I bid you a good evening." With that she quietly closed the door and left the irritated Sasuke to trudge all the way back home.

Around an hour later Naruto and the girls got home having had an eventful dinner. Apparently in pranking circles (and among those the hated old man Kato); Uzumaki ' _The Prankster King from Hell'_ Naruto was some kind of celebrity. He found it both flattering and totally bizarre at the same time (and admitted to absolutely nothing). At any rate; it seemed they had three new friends which was nice as Naruto was usually shunned by most people. Maya said the three were welcome to come over and train with them this weekend if they wanted and everyone agreed to start Saturday at eight in the morning.

Maya led the way in only to be greeted by Natsu. "Hinata-sama; Maya-sama, I welcome you all home. I have a message for you from the Uchiha Maya-sama. He told me to tell you that _Uchiha Sasuke-sama stopped by and will see you in class tomorrow._ He was very arrogant about it."

"Sounds like typical Sasuke-chan." said Naruto. "I'm going to hit the shower and go to bed. I'm tired from ANBU attacking us in our beds last night. Good night everybody." With that Naruto went to his room.

Natsu's eyes widened a bit after Naruto left and was trying to keep from giggling. "D-did he just refer to the Uchiha as _Sasuke-chan?_ "

Maya smiled. "Naruto-kun calls him that when the Uchiha is particularly annoying."

At that point Natsu lost control and burst into laughter. "It's so _improper_ and so _disrespectful!_ " she blurted out before she had another fit of giggles.

The equally exhausted Hinata and Maya also called it a night after bidding Hanako Obaa-chan a good evening.

That's when Natsu turned to Aya, "Aya-sama, did Uzumaki-san say something about **_ANBU_** attacking him in bed last night?"

Aya nodded. "Maya nee-chan, Hinata nee-chan and Naruto-kun were attacked last night while they slept as some kind test for their advanced genin class. It was pretty bloody. It's no wonder they are exhausted. Hanako Obba-chan was up though it all but I wasn't."

Natsu's eyes were big as saucers. "So what exactly happened Aya-sama?"

Aya explained, "Well, Naruto-kun captured the two ANBU that came after him without a whole lot of fuss but both Maya-nee-chan and Hinata nee-chan ended up knocked out after they ran their opponents through in sword duels. The ANBU's mission failed from what I understand. Hanako Obaa-chan said to head back to bed once things settled down so I never really got the play by play. I heard Naruto-kun was ready to kill two of the ANBU for hurting Hinata nee-chan. She was knocked out in a pool of one of the ANBU's blood and he was afraid they'd killed her. He was really upset."

' _He was angry enough to kill for Hinata-sama's sake?_ ' thought Natsu. "So Uzumaki-san cares for Hinata-sama?"

Aya's face got totally serious. "Naruto-kun would lay down his life to protect _anyone_ in this house. He grew up all alone and he considers us all like family; especially Maya nee and Hinata nee. He would kill to protect their lives; make no mistake. He treats Hanabi-chan and I like his own little sisters and Hanako Obaa-chan like his real Obaa-chan."

 **9 P.M.**

Hinata deactivated the seals and slipped into Naruto's room. "Naruto-kun, are you awake?" she asked quietly.

"The proximity seal woke me up Hinata-chan; is everything alright?" asked Naruto as he sat up in the low light.

"I just wanted to talk a few minutes; Obaa-chan told me you were going to kill those ANBU when you thought they had hurt me." said Hinata fidgeting as she sat down on the bed.

Naruto looked down, "I was so horrified Hinata-chan. I've never been so angry in my life. When I saw you lying there and all the blood I was terrified that I'd lost you. If Obaa-chan hadn't interfered I would have killed them and the other ANBU in a heartbeat." He sounded a bit shaken.

Hinata gently placed her hands on Naruto's cheeks to give him a gentle kiss to thank him. But when their lips touched Hinata's passion turned fiery and before long she slid her tongue in his mouth which he reciprocated. He soon gripped her yukata covered body and pulled her flush against his chest. The kisses turned hotter and hotter until they were absolutely soul searing. Hinata was straddling Naruto in the sitting position and she was desperately grinding her body into his. She felt her panties get completely soaked as she moaned and ground against his fully erect member. They both ran their hands over each other's bodies in an effort to get closer to each other. She started to pull his t-shirt up when they had to stop for air. Naruto and Hinata were both panting and staring into each other's lust filled eyes. The fire was unquenchable….

That's when they heard a gentle knock on the door and both of them gasped. They heard Hanako say gently, "Hinata-chan; it's time for you to get some sleep. Say good night to Naruto-kun and go to bed."

Hinata swallowed and said, "Y-yes Obaa-chaan." She turned back to Naruto and said, "G-goodnight Naruto-kun. I love you and Maya-chan does too. We will always be here for you." She planted a kiss on his forehead because she knew she'd get carried away in she kissed his lips again.

"Hinata-chan…." whispered Naruto.

Hinata hopped off the bed and said, "Goodnight Naruto-kun; sweet dreams." She then quickly retreated back out into the hall. Hinata expected to see Hanako waiting for her to scold her but after activating her byakugan she saw Hanako was quietly reading in her bedroom. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth; Hinata went back to her own room and laid down to sleep thinking about how wonderful Naruto-kun's body felt against hers….

Naruto was no better. He would be dreaming about Hinata's amazing body and how she felt against him all night….

 **With Hanako** ….

She activated her byakugan briefly and saw Hinata was in her own bed. ' _It seems my granddaughter is a wild child just as badly as I was at that age and Maya is no better. At least I caught them before they got completely naked. I'll have to have a Motherly talk with those two. It's only natural but at the same time I don't want the girls to end up pregnant. I wonder if Naruto has any idea what he's in for_ ….' With that Hanako decided to call it a night….

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, the special guest appearance by the ANBU kind of backfired. Let me emphasize that the ANBU were expecting sleeping children in their beds; not ambushes. Had they known what they were walking into the ANBU wouldn't have been injured at all. Alas, they weren't prepared. We also got to see Naruto using Kyubi's chakra for the first time. This may or may not have repercussions later. Also, Sasuke seems to be stepping up his game to win Maya (and possibly Hikari) and that will probably lead to some conflict between him and Naruto. Next chapter we'll catch up with the Senju Clan and see what they are up to. See you next chapter. Blue out. 6/17/15


	16. Chapter 16

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Wow! Over 300 reviews and 30,000 hits. I really wasn't sure this story would go over but I guess I was wrong. Also, Sasuke's popularity is higher than ever. I've received so many PM's on how to destroy and/or kill him it shocked me. Here's chapter 16:

Last time:

 _….That's when they heard a gentle knock on the door and both of them gasped. They heard Hanako say gently, "Hinata-chan; it's time for you to get some sleep. Say good night to Naruto-kun and go to bed."_

 _Hinata swallowed and said, "Y-yes Obaa-chan." She turned back to Naruto and said, "G-goodnight Naruto-kun. I love you and Maya-chan does too. We will always be here for you." She planted a kiss on his forehead because she knew she'd get carried away in she kissed his lips again._

 _"Hinata-chan…." whispered Naruto._

 _Hinata hopped off the bed and said, "Goodnight Naruto-kun; sweet dreams." She then quickly retreated back out into the hall. Hinata expected to see Hanako waiting for her to scold her but after activating her byakugan she saw Hanako was quietly reading in her bedroom. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth; Hinata went back to her own room and laid down to sleep thinking about how wonderful Naruto-kun's body felt against hers…._

 _Naruto was no better. He would be dreaming about Hinata's amazing body and how she felt against him all night…._

 ** _With Hanako_** _…._

 _She activated her byakugan briefly and saw Hinata was in her own bed. ' It seems my granddaughter is a wild child just as badly as I was at that age and Maya is no better. At least I caught them before they got completely naked. I'll have to have a Motherly talk with those two. It's only natural but at the same time I don't want the girls to end up pregnant. I wonder if Naruto has any idea what he's in for….' With that Hanako decided to call it a night…._

 **Chapter 16**

 **Konoha, Senju Compound**

Numerous genin teams were at work cleaning the Senju compound under Tsunade and Jiraiya's watchful eyes. Tsunade was inside the compound proper and Jiraiya was outside supervising the yard work. Shizune was doing her best to keep Mito-chan out of the way so the genins could do their jobs and finally decided to take the girl for a walk. "But I wanted to help Shizune nee-chan!" pouted Mito.

Shizune sighed. "I understand Mito-chan but those genins are being _paid_ to do their jobs so they need to earn their money; not have you do it _for_ them. Besides, you and I are underfoot. Let's get out for a walk and look around."

One of the genin teams there was Neji's team under Gai Maito. Lee and Tenten noticed Neji had paused and was looking out the window with his byakugan. "What is it Neji?" asked Tenten as she put down the boxes she was moving. "Is there a threat of some kind?" She noticed he was focusing on something intently.

Neji shook his head. "No, I just realized we are very close to the Natsume Clan Home where my Obaa-sama and my two cousins are living. It looks like Hanako Obaa-sama and Hanabi-sama are out for a walk this morning."

That's when Gai put his hand on Neji's shoulder. "I am glad that you seem at peace with your Grandmother Hanako-sama again. She is an amazing person and a legendary kunoichi. I saw her fight once when I was an Academy student and it left a huge impression on me to this day. My own Father pointed her out as being one of the greatest practitioners of the juken arts ever. I assume you are training under her again in secret, yes?"

Neji got a deer in the headlights look and Gai smiled supportively and said, "Your secret is safe with us Neji-kun. You should be proud to be her grandson."

Neji said, "I am proud to be her grandson. She has opened my eyes about many things." ' _Like my cousins fate….I wish I could live there with them_.'

Gai nodded and said, "Perhaps we should pay her a youthful visit as a team once our mission here is done. I for one would love to talk with her." With that he got back to work.

Noticing Neji looked a little gray at Gai-sensei's idea of visiting his Grandmother as a team; Tenten said, "Don't worry Neji; if Gai sensei respects her that much I bet he will be a little more reserved than normal. He doesn't always scream about the _Flames of Youth_." Seeing a rather disbelieving stare from Neji; Tenten said, "On the other hand maybe you're right."

Neji nodded and looked with his byakugan one last time before getting back to work. He saw Hanako and Hanabi looking back with their byakugans at him and waving gently. Giving a small wave in return Neji smiled ever so slightly and started moving boxes again.

 **Amaguriama Sweets Shop, Tea Avenue**

Later that morning Hanabi was with her Grandmother Hanako and was savoring a banana split (bananas were her favorite food). It was unusual for Hanako to go for sweets but she wanted to just enjoy some time with her youngest grandchild and give her a little reward for having worked hard practicing her juken all morning. Anyway, the weather was nice to be out and about in and Hanako was amused seeing how excited Hanabi was about her food.

"What is she eating Shizune nee-chan? It looks _so_ yummy!" said Mito pointing straight at Hanabi.

"Mito-chan! Don't point; it's rude!" scolded Shizune. "Forgive us Hyūga-san." said Shizune bowing to Hanako and Hanabi.

"Is that you Shizune-chan?" said Hanako with a look of recognition on her face. "It _is_ you! My how you've grown. I always thought you were a cute child but you've matured into a lovely young woman. If you're here then you must be with Tsunade. I trust you still have better manners than her?"

Shizune's eyes widened a bit. There was only _one_ person she knew who always, _always_ criticized Tsunade-sama's lack of manners without the slightest fear. "Hanako-sama, is that you? You've hardly aged a day since I saw you last."

Hanako smiled. "As always you are too kind Shizune-chan. Who is this little one with you? She looks and acts _awfully_ familiar."

Shizune smiled. She'd always admired Hanako-sama. She turned to Mito and said, "Mito-chan, this is Hyūga Hanako-sama; she is a great kunoichi. Please give your introductions."

Mito bowed and said, "I'm Senju Mito! I'm pleased to meet you Hanako-sama. What _is_ that she's eating?" said Mito pointing at Hanabi again. Shizune sighed at Mito's usual bluntness she inherited from her Mother Tsunade-sama.

Hanabi said. "I am Hyūga Hanabi and Hanako-sama is my Obaa-chan. I'm eating a banana split."

"It looks delicious!" said Mito with wide, hungry amber eyes.

Hanako said to Shizune, "Why don't you two get something to eat and join us? Hanabi-chan doesn't have that many children around her own age to talk to."

It wasn't long before Hanabi and Mito discovered they were both nine years old and planned to go to the Ninja Academy next year. They both seemed happy they were neighbors as well since the Natsume Clan grounds bordered on the Senju ones. They agreed they should play together when they weren't studying.

"….So Tsunade settled down with Jiraiya after all these years and they had Mito-chan." said Hanako chatting with Shizune. "That is quite a combination. I bet it's been hard on you raising three children Shizune-chan." said Hanako with a slight smile.

Shizune laughed. "It has seemed that way at times. Mito-chan is a good girl but she can be quite a handful as well."

Hanako nodded. ' _Good god….this little girl Mito-chan could turn out to be a super strong, hard drinking, gambling addicted pervert that writes erotic novels! Heaven help us….I'll say a prayer for Shizune-chan's sake tonight_.' "Well, perhaps Hanabi-chan and Mito-chan can play together since we're next door neighbors."

"I meant to ask Hanako-sama, why are you living on Natsume grounds?" asked Shizune.

"Another time Shizune-chan." Hanako hand signed [not in public] and Shizune nodded.

After their visit, Hanabi and Hanako bid farewell for now and headed back to the Natsume Clan Home….

 **Konoha Ninja Academy**

Naruto had been spaced out most of the day and had Hinata-chan starring in his thoughts. _"I love you and Maya-chan does too. We will always be here for you."_ The words echoed through his head and made him feel amazingly happy. He wanted to talk to the girls privately but the opportunity simply hadn't come up. He'd done nothing but think about it all day.

Aside of that the day had been fairly normal for the advanced genin class (well as normal as it got for them anyway). Kiba was back and everyone but Sasuke and Sai seemed genuinely concerned about him and his health. Aside of not being able to spar he was pretty much participating normally. Everyone seemed to be getting along better except Sasuke (which was a prick) and no one knew what to think a Sai. Sai didn't have an annoying/demeaning nickname for Naruto like he did for everyone else and was always very respectful to him. Naruto couldn't help but feel that something was 'off' about Sai though. It wasn't that Naruto really disliked him; it was just on an instinctual level Sai didn't seem quite right to Naruto.

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Natsu was busy polishing the hardwood floor in the front room of the Natsume Clan home when she heard Hanako-sama and Hanabi-sama return. She quickly greeted them as they took off their sandals in the entryway. "Hanako-sama; Hanabi-sama, welcome home." she said with a bow.

Hanako looked at Natsu and said, "Whatever have you been doing Natsu-san? Your uniform is rather dirty."

Natsu bowed again, "My deepest apologies Hanako-sama but thoroughly cleaning the floors can be dirty work. I can change if we are expecting guests however."

"Just how many rooms have you done Natsu?" asked Hanabi. Natsu was obviously a bit worn out.

"Well, I did the kitchen, all the showers and the hallways." said Natsu counting things off on her fingers. "Now I'm doing the front room."

Hanabi had a puzzled look on her face. "Why didn't you just channel some chakra into the cleaning seals?"

Natsu answered with an intelligent, very eloquent, "Huh?"

Hanako shook her head and said, "Come over here by the light switch Natsu-san." Just to the left of the light switch was a small, diamond shaped design. "Channel some of your chakra into the diamond shaped seal." said Hanako.

Natsu didn't follow but said, "Yes Hanako-sama." When Natsu channeled in her chakra a flowing, script like pattern went up and down the walls, down across the floor and overhead across the sealing. They glowed for a minute or so leaving everything they were on spotless. Natsu's byakugan eyes got big as saucers as she saw the room's surfaces cleaned to perfection. "H-how?" she asked staring at Hanako with a look of utter astonishment on her face.

"Naruto-kun painted this entire house top to bottom with cleaning seals Natsu-san." said Hanako. "The furniture needs to be dusted but there's certainly no need to clean the floors. Didn't Maya-chan tell you to just dust the furniture?"

"Maya-sama certainly did but I felt that cleaning the floors was a must." said the stunned Natsu as she examined the floor with her byakugan looking for dust and finding none.

"Naruto-kun's seals have made cleaning really easy." said Hanabi. "After I dust my bedroom furniture I use the seal by my light switch and ' _poof_ ' it's clean like magic!"

Natsu said, "You're saying Uzumaki-san added seals to this whole house that I could have used instead of doing all that _back breaking_ work all day long?"

" _Yes._ " nodded Grandmother and granddaughter in unison with identical looks on their faces.

"He did it all by **_himself?_** " asked Natsu.

"Yes, he _invented_ the seals Natsu-san." explained Hanako. "Every room in this house has a cleaning seal by the light switch so if you want to clean the room just put some chakra into it."

Natsu started giggling rather unnaturally and pumped chakra through the seal again just to watch it work again. Her giggling soon was sounding more and more like a manic cackle as if she'd entered some kind of drug induced nirvana.

Hanako took Hanabi's hand and led her out of the room where Natsu was having an _episode_. "Come Hanabi-chan; let us leave Natsu alone so she can have her nervous breakdown in peace." Hanabi just nodded with a bewildered look on her face as Natsu's insane laughter rang through the Natsume household. Looking at her Grandmother she heard Hanako say, "Natsu-san will be fine in a few hours." in a reassuring tone.

Sure enough, after a couple of hours of hysterics Natsu had calmed back down and decided to take a nap on Hanako-sama's advice.

The nine year old Hanabi just tried to block the whole incident out as she studied her mathematics under her Obaa-chan….

 **ANBU Headquarters, 3 P.M.**

Naruto wandered into his class to teach fuinjutsu that afternoon and saw most of them looked very exhausted. He said, "Good afternoon class. Is there a particular reason many of you look half dead?"

Mouse said, "ANBU Commander Dragon has severely upped our physical and combat training. He says that 'recent events' have shown we are not up to the standards ANBU should be at."

Tortoise griped, "All those 'recent events' seem to center around your class of _ANBU Brats_ sensei. You captured six of us with your damn seals."

"And those same _damn seals_ are what I'm intending to teach you Tortoise." growled Naruto. "If you want to piss and moan get the hell out of my class. I'm happy to help anyone in here who needs it but I'm not your babysitter. Dragon's office is down the hall so report to him you've failed if you don't feel you can cut it." When the class (and Tortoise in particular) went silent Naruto said, "Let's get on with today's lesson. Spread out so there's an empty chair between each of you so I can sit beside you. We're going to try a little one on one training and see if it benefits the class. Aside of that pass your homework forward so I can look it over."

The class all shuffled around at Naruto's odd order and spread out after Naruto collected their homework. "While I look these over get out a fresh scroll and wait for me to sit down with you. Shadow clone jutsu!" Eleven Narutos appeared, picked up a homework scroll each and sat with the student whose scroll they had. The collective thought of the class was ' _What the fuck? How can he make so many without dying of chakra exhaustion?_ ' but when several of them asked the shadow clones told them it was irrelevant but their homework wasn't.

While Naruto's class was being taught by shadow clones Naruto himself was taking notes on the fuinjutsu textbooks he had. A few had some good points but most of them were _very_ lacking. ' _I really have my own ideas down solid but I need a writer to collaborate with that knows basic seals. These writers don't know squat! I need to make it all accessible to my students but I've never written a book damn it!_ '

The clones soon found that the individual training actually was a big plus. Many of the repeated little mistakes in his student's kanji could be ironed out so he could get them practicing stuff they were _really_ having problems with as opposed to repeating all of their kanji endlessly. The students also seemed to respond positively to the individual attention. Even the ever whining Tortoise was making progress and several comments such as " _I understand now!_ " and " _Oh, now I get it!_ " seemed to be going through the classroom.

 **Konoha Ninja Academy**

While Naruto was teaching his class Maya was being accosted by Sasuke. Maya wanted to talk to Hinata-chan about what happened last night but now she had to deal with the biggest ego in her class instead. "Maya-chan, I've been meaning to talk to you." said Sasuke with a warm smile.

Maya turned to him and said, "What do you want Uchiha? I'm busy."

Sasuke chuckled. "I was just curious if that Hyūga maid of yours passed along my message. I'm surprised one of the high and mighty Hyūgas would serve in another household than their own. I guess she sees you as a Lady of true caliber at the top. I couldn't agree more."

Maya's eyes narrowed. "She mentioned that you stopped by while I was out having dinner with friends. She also said you were very arrogant."

"A mere maid has no place to pass judgment on an Uchiha." said Sasuke. "Besides, I could have taken you to any of the finest restaurants in town. Unlike _other_ unmentionables I have plenty of money. I came out last night to ask you to join me for dinner. What do you say? It will get you away from that two-timer Uzumaki. I saw him take his so called 'student' out to dinner after they left the armory. Why settle for that kind of trash when you could have a nobleman like me that could provide you with everything your heart could possibly desire?"

Maya changed tactics. "You really _are_ ** _stalking_** Naruto-kun aren't you?! I thought Naruto-kun was joking when he said it but you actually _are_ following him around!"

Sasuke's eyes got wide. "I am _not_ stalking him! I simply passed by them there and he and that blonde seemed to be having a _wonderful_ time together when he should have been paying attention to you. It breaks my heart to see someone as noble as yourself on the road to heartache because of a clown like him! Come with me Maya-chan." he said as he gently grasped her wrist.

Maya's eyes flashed in anger as she ripped her arm from his grasp. " _Don't touch me Uchiha!_ _-or I'll carve those eyes of yours out_. They're the only thing you have worth anything anyway!" The look in Maya's blue eyes and the killing intent she was throwing off made Sasuke recoil a bit. He'd never admit it but Maya had him seriously frightened.

Sasuke shook his head and said, "I'll be waiting for you when you change your mind. Know that my feelings are true unlike Uzumaki's" Then he stalked off.

After he left; Hinata (of all people) said, "You really should have just kicked his ass Maya-chan. That would have shut his arrogant mouth." Realizing what she just said; Hinata blushed bright red and said, "Eeep! I apologize everyone; that was _terribly_ improper of me." Emi, Kiba and Choji all cracked up into laughter at Hinata's brutally honest comment.

"So who is this mysterious blonde that Naruto took out on a date?" asked Ino suspiciously.

Maya said, "When we all went out to dinner last night Naruto explained that one of his students hadn't ever experienced the _wonders of Ichiraku's Ramen_ so he took her there for a bowl. He takes all his friends there for a bowl if he finds out they've never been so he can convert them to the faith."

"That's true." said Kiba. "I know he's taken me, Shikamaru and Choji. I'm sure he's already taken Hinata and Maya as well."

"He took me too." said Emi. "That place is awesome!"

"I wonder why he's never taken me then?" asked Ino.

Emi said, "I don't think you ever showed interest in being his friend Ino. No offense but until recently you and Sakura were fawning over the Uchiha. I guess Sasuke acting like such a total prick opened you two's eyes a bit."

Ino said, "I'd be his friend if he asked me!" in self defense.

Maya was about to say something really cutting about Ino only _being interested since she found out Naruto was a prince_ but Hinata placed her hand on Maya's shoulder and shook her head 'no.' Maya decided that Hinata-chan was right and just stayed silent instead of getting into a pointless argument….

 **ANBU Headquarters**

Naruto's fuinjutsu class actually lost track of time and ran a half hour late much to everyone's shock. Usually they were all watching the clock on the wall and were ready to bolt at 4 P.M. sharp. Naruto asked his class before he dismissed them, "Do you think this works better? All in favor of the one on one teaching please raise your hands." Seeing every student raise their hands Naruto nodded. "Then we'll continue this way and see how it pays off." After that he dismissed the class and sent a shadow clone to meet the girls with a message that he would be late and needed to talk to the Hokage. Naruto _really_ wanted to see Hinata-chan and Maya-chan but seeing Hokage-jiji at the moment was _very_ important.

Naruto visited with Hikari for a few minutes after class and then rocketed off to the Hokage Tower. He saw the window to the Hokage's office was open and decided to not mess with the secretary and showed himself in. Hiruzen was taking a small break from his paperwork and was enjoying a little _Icha Icha_ quality reading that his student Jiraiya gave him before it came out to press. He also had a picture of Hanako-chan in a striped bikini when she was young that Jiraiya slipped in there that he was using as a bookmark. Hiruzen really didn't know what to think of _that_ little gift or how Jiraiya even _obtained_ it. Part of him wanted to thank the stars for this little trinket but another part of him wanted to hide it in a safe for fear of Hanako-chan finding out.

" _Damn_ ; what a babe she was." thought Hiruzen aloud as he admired the black and white photo of Hanako-chan once again and giggled perversely.

"What a babe _who_ was Jiji?" asked Naruto from over Hiruzen's shoulder. The Hokage nearly jumped out of his skin and Naruto reached out and nimbly snatched the picture out of Hiruzen's hand before the old man could hide it away. Naruto laughed and jumped out of the old man's grasp before he Hiruzen could catch him. Naruto read the back aloud. "Hyūga Hanako, age 17 at the beach in Moon Country." Naruto looked at the strong resemblance between Hanako and her two granddaughters. Hinata was _built_ just like Hanako but Hanabi seemed to have inherited Hanako's facial features. Hinata had taken more after her mother Himawari facially. To Naruto; Hinata-chan was even _more_ beautiful (not that Hanako hadn't been a total knockout –she still was a _very_ striking woman).

Naruto grinned mischievously. "Hmmm….Who'd have thought Hanako Obaa-sama was such a hottie when she was young? No wonder Hinata-chan is so beautiful! More importantly; who would have thought that our honorable Hokage-sama would be in here getting full timber for her in his office? (Chuckle) Oh, the blackmail material is priceless….I guess she wore her hair up in a ponytail back then too –not that you were looking there. So tell me Jiji; how much will you give me for my silence?" asked Naruto with an evil smile.

Hiruzen said. "You're being absolutely _cruel_ Naruto! How could you deny a poor old man some of the simple pleasures in his life?"

Naruto laughed. "Flattery about my cruelty will get you nowhere with me Jiji! But I _did_ need something from you and I reckon this little tidbit will give me _all_ the leverage I need."

Seeing his ' _poor old man_ ' routine was having no effect on Naruto; Hiruzen decided to bite the bullet and said, "Fine Naruto-kun. What is your price for silence _and_ for returning my picture to me?"

Naruto sat down and relaxed. "I need help writing a book Jiji. All the textbooks on introductory fuinjutsu out there suck! I've gone through thirty six of them and I've decided that in order to teach my class right I have to write my own. I need a co-writer that knows basic seals to make it accessible to beginners. I have an outline but I haven't got a clue how to write a textbook. Can you help me Jiji?"

Hiruzen was a bit stunned. ' _He'd go this far to teach his students properly?_ ' "You have a very admirable goal there Naruto-kun and I believe I know just who can help you. He was one of my own students; Jiraiya of the sannin. He's wanted to meet you for a long time now anyway."

"Why would one of the sannin want to meet me?" asked Naruto.

"He has personal reasons." explained the Hokage. "He was your Father's sensei but due to his duties outside the village he couldn't be part of your life like he wanted to. He's also a seal master and a prolific writer. I believe once you get to know him he would be happy to teach you a lot. I'll make arrangements for you two to meet. If anyone could help you with this project I'd say he can. What do you say Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's instincts told him there was more to it but he _really_ needed help with this book. "Alright Jiji; we have an accord." Naruto handed the picture of Hanako back to the Hokage who quickly stashed it away faster than Naruto's eyes could follow. "Well, I'd better get going Jiji….If you really do like Hanako-Obaa-chan maybe you should ask her out. You two might get along really well. I mean, the worst thing that could happen is she'd say 'no.' On the other hand of course, you could end up dead in a ditch beside the road somewhere too…probably in a foreign country we're your body would never be found."

"You _really_ do know how to bolster my confidence Naruto-kun." said Hiruzen in a very flat tone.

Naruto gave him a vulpine smile. "Hey you know I'm _all_ about moral support –ttebayo! I'll show myself out." said the prankster as he let himself out through the still open window.

" _ANBU Brat_ indeed." Hiruzen shook his head and looked at an empty wall after Naruto left. "Well, what do you think of your Godson now that you've seen him up close Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya became visible and said, "It's hard to believe a fourteen year old boy wants to write a fuinjutsu textbook. He is right though, everything in print on the market is garbage." Jiraiya then said, "He's definitely Kushina's son though. He has that gleam in his eye that shows he's always up to or thinking about something. Minato and Kushina would be proud of him for being that dedicated to teach others. I notice he has Kushina's verbal tic too." chuckled the toad sannin. "It must be genetic." With that Jiraiya body flickered home.

 **Uchiha Clan District**

Uchiha Sasuke was looking at a picture of Maya they had taken when the Advanced Genin Class was announced by Iruka. She was wearing her colorful red and blue that she was known for before they became known as the _ANBU Brats_. Of course she would look best in a suitable high collared kimono with the Uchiha Fan on the back. Sasuke certainly had plans for Natsume Maya but she was far too fiery as things stood. Nevertheless Sasuke was confident he could tame her given a little time. ' _What does she see in that fool Uzumaki?!_ ' Sasuke thought to himself for the thousandth time.

Then there was Tomoe Hikari….Sasuke couldn't have her as the matriarch of his clan but she was an exquisite piece of work. All he really knew about the beautiful blonde was she was in ANBU so she had to be strong. She wasn't in the same league as Maya of course but she could certainly help Sasuke rebuild the Uchiha Clan. She would be in a place of high standing as Uchiha Sasuke-sama's mistress. None of her children could succeed him as clan head or for all that matter would be as strong or pure blooded as his children with Maya but still he had a clan to re-populate and would need strong kunoichis to bear his children….What disgusted Sasuke was Hikari seemed to have an interest in Uzumaki Naruto as well. There was also the fact she called him Naruto- _sensei_. Sasuke overheard the joking conversation about Naruto teaching others how to play pranks….But honestly, what else was Naruto good for?

Sasuke figured he could manipulate Naruto into spilling the beans about whatever his supposed 'class' was about. Uzumaki was a natural braggart (always had been) so it shouldn't be too difficult to convince him to tell whatever he was teaching. It was a fact that whatever Uzumaki Naruto could do that Uchiha Sasuke could utterly dominate him and do that much better. If only Sasuke could figure out whatever spell Naruto had over Maya….

 **Senju Clan Compound**

The Senju family was sitting down to dinner now that Jiraiya was home. Tsunade smiled in approval as Mito told them about her day. "It sounds like you've made a new friend here in Konoha Mito-chan; I'm glad. Hanabi-chan sounds like a nice girl. I'm planning to go over to pay a visit to Hanako-sama tomorrow anyway. I have some business I need to discuss with her so maybe you can play with Hanabi-chan in the meantime."

"Can we invite them over here Kaa-chan?" asked Mito. "I want to show Hanabi-chan my room."

Jiraiya ruffled Mito's hair. "We need to finish renovating the Senju Clan Compound before we can start entertaining guests Mito-chan. Your room isn't even painted yet. You can invite your friend Hanabi-chan over here when it's all done."

Does that mean more genin squads are going to be here tou-san?" asked Mito pouting.

"Yes Mito-chan." said Tsunade. "Most of the place is cleaned up but there's still a _lot_ to do. No one has lived here or maintained the place since I left with Shizune a long time ago."

"Don't worry Mito-chan." said Shizune in a reassuring tone. "Soon enough everything will be done and you can invite your friend Hanabi-chan over. For now you just have to be patient."

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Naruto got home from blackmailing the Hokage and picking up some new blank scrolls to work on. He'd been seriously studying the caged bird seal and if things went as planned this evening he would finally have it. Of course, He also wanted to sit down in private with Hinata-chan and Maya-chan. ' _So much to do; so little time….the girls take precedence. I'll get the finishing touches on that counterseal tomorrow_.' That decided, our unsuspecting hero headed into the house and announced, "I'm home!"

 **In the study** **….**

Hanako had both Hinata and Maya sitting in front of her as she addressed them. "I know you girls are going to legally be considered adults soon and both of you are showing all the signs that you're more than eager to engage in sexual activities with Naruto-kun." Hanako held up her hand to forestall any arguments from the two blushing girls. "It's only natural and I was the same way when I was your age. I lost my virginity younger than I'd care to admit and I suspect you both will too. That being said I want you to both make sure your first time is special and not some spur of the moment thing where you lose yourself to passion."

"Yesterday night you would have been in bed with Naruto-kun all night and possibly ended up pregnant if I hadn't intervened Hinata-chan." said Hanako. "You're a healthy young woman and Naruto-kun is a healthy young man. I'm _not_ trying to embarrass you and I _wasn't_ spying on you. I could hear the two of you moaning out in the hallway. For future reference get Naruto-kun to put up some silencing seals for everyone's sake. Heaven knows what Hanabi-chan would have thought if she heard all that noise and activated her byakugan." Hinata was blushing so red she thought she was going to pass out and Maya's brain was spinning with all kinds of scenarios. She and Hinata-chan were discussing exactly what had happened between Hinata and Naruto-kun just before Hanako Obaa-chan called them in….

Seeing the girl's brains were off in outer space Hanako said to them, "Pay attention!" in a commanding tone. Maya and Hinata both snapped to attention at her words. "There's a jutsu I'm going to teach you that is used for seduction missions. It will prevent you from getting pregnant no matter how heated the action gets. Frankly I don't know if they even teach it anymore but I used it as an effective means of birth control for decades. You two will learn it before you are aloud to engage in any sexual activities; do you understand? I'm teaching you this for your sake so I want you to learn it to protect yourselves."

Both girls were blushing but answered, "Yes, Hanako Obaa-chan."

Hanako sighed. She remembered how embarrassed she had been when her _own_ Mother forced her to learn this jutsu. It was a good thing too because she lost her virginity to her first boyfriend the very next night…. _'I was so out of control at their age. I hope they take it a little slower than I did.'_ she thought to herself. "Alright girls; here are the hand signs…."

 **Back at the front door** **….**

"I'm home!" was all Naruto got out before an impassioned pair of lips crashed into his own and he was tackled to the floor.

He tasted sake on those cold, wet lips as he heard Natsu's voice moan out in passion. "Oh Uzumaki-san, you are every young maid's dream man. I **_lloovvee_** you and your magnificent cleaning seals!"

Naruto screamed in terror as the drunken kunoichi/maid attempted to have her way with him. By the time the rest of the household arrived (including a terrified Hinata and Maya at Naruto's scream) Natsu was unconscious on top of Naruto and limp as a rag doll….

Maya and Hinata looked at Natsu and then saw the horror in Naruto's eyes. He stuttered out, "I-I think she's d-dead…."

Hanako face palmed and pulled the seemingly dead maid off of Naruto's quivering form with no gentleness at all. Rolling Natsu over on her back to check if the normally prim and proper maid was alive she smelled a bit of sake on the younger woman's breath. "She's not dead Naruto; she's just dead drunk! Get up so you can carry her back to her bedroom. Stop shaking and follow me."

Naruto was blushing red as a tomato as he carried the kunoichi/maid to her room and gently sat her on her bed. He saw Hanako looking at a bottle of sake that was three fourths empty. Hanako shook her head and said "Tsk! I had no idea Natsu-san was such a lightweight. This is all it took to make her pass out? A _real_ Hyūga woman wouldn't even be tipsy at this pathetic amount!" Turning to Naruto; Hanako asked, "Did Natsu-san do or say anything before she passed out?"

Naruto said, "She jumped on me and kissed me full on the mouth and then I had to fight her off before she raped me! She slurred out something about loving me and my cleaning seals and then passed out. _Is she insane?_ "

Hinata and Maya were both in the doorway and saw red hearing Naruto's confession. " _I'll_ ** _kill_** _that harlot!_ " they said as one. The two were barely being held at bay by their panicking and confused younger sisters. Naruto was frightened at the girl's combined killing intent and hoped they wouldn't kill him as well (He figured Natsu was a goner and had already written her off).

Finally Hanako had enough pandemonium and said in a voice of an ANBU Commander, " **Everybody to the front room! Move!** " The kids all scrambled out of Natsu's room leaving the unconscious young kunoichi/maid to sleep off her drunkenness and Hanako locked the door behind them on the way out. ' _Teenagers….Well, hopefully that will keep Hinata-chan and Maya-chan from murdering Natsu-san in her sleep_.' In a house full of mostly hormonal children; Hanako Obaa-chan just couldn't seem to get a break this evening….

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, another chapter in the books. It seems that Naruto and Sasuke are gearing up for a head on collision over certain ladies. Hanabi and Mito seem to be on their way to becoming friends. Naruto has yet to have a heart to heart with Hinata and Maya (Natsu wasn't much help there). On the other hand Natsu loves cleaning seals and is helpfully educating the younger members of the Natsume household about the evils of not drinking alcohol in moderation. Next chapter we'll see Tsunade and Hanako have a chat and the tension rise in the advanced genin class. See you next chapter. Blue out. 6/19/15


	17. Chapter 17

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This chapter ran a bit longer than planned and took a while. Without further ado, I present you with chapter 17:

Last time:

 _….Hanako asked, "Did Natsu-san do or say anything before she passed out?"_

 _Naruto said, "She jumped on me and kissed me full on the mouth and then I had to fight her off before she raped me! She slurred out something about loving me and my cleaning seals and then passed out. Is she insane?"_

 _Hinata and Maya were both in the doorway and saw red hearing Naruto's confession. " I'll **kill** that harlot!" they said as one. The two were barely being held at bay by their panicking and confused younger sisters. Naruto was frightened at the girl's combined killing intent and hoped they wouldn't kill him as well (He figured Natsu was a goner and had already written her off)._

 _Finally Hanako had enough pandemonium and said in a voice of an ANBU Commander, " **Everybody to the front room! Move!** " The kids all scrambled out of Natsu's room leaving the unconscious young kunoichi/maid to sleep off her drunkenness and Hanako locked the door behind them on the way out. 'Teenagers….Well, hopefully that will keep Hinata-chan and Maya-chan from murdering Natsu-san in her sleep.' In a house full of mostly hormonal children; Hanako Obaa-chan just couldn't seem to get a break this evening…._

 **Chapter 17**

 **Konoha, Natsume Clan Home**

Naruto had just gotten out of the shower (he'd felt a bit violated by Natsu's drunken attempt to take his virginity) and went over to Maya-chan's room where the two girls agreed to meet him after he got out. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt with his yukata over them. He hoped Hinata-chan and Maya-chan had calmed down because they were **_not_** happy earlier when they found out Natsu had kissed him. He timidly knocked on Maya-chan's door and said, "Maya-chan; are you decent?"

"Yes, please come in Naruto-kun." said Maya through the door. Naruto came in and saw both girls were dressed in fresh training clothes as he closed the door behind him. Maya was sitting at her desk and Hinata was sitting on the bed waiting.

"Are you alright Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata. "It's still not too late to send Natsu-san back to the Hyūga compound _in a wooden box_." The unholy fire burning in both Hinata and Maya's eyes was rather disturbing to Naruto.

Naruto waved his hands defensively. "No, no. It's alright. I think she was really drunk out of her mind and didn't know what she was doing." The girls looked a tiny bit disappointed at being unable to wreak bloody vengeance on the maid that stepped into their territory but then calmed down.

Maya said, "Naruto-kun, didn't you put silencing seals on my bedroom a while back?"

Naruto nodded. "Yep; I put them on all the bedrooms in the house when I added the cleaning seals; remember?"

Maya sweat dropped. "Actually Aya-chan and I were so excited about the cleaning seals that I kind of forgot. Can you show us where they are and how to activate them?"

Smiling, Naruto locked the door and channeled chakra into it. The door and walls glowed for a second. "There, now this room has a silencing seal on it. To turn the barrier off just unlock the door. Simple, right?"

The girls both smiled happily. "So my bedroom has that too Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata.

"Every bedroom and the study has them Hinata-chan." said Naruto. "They all turn on and off the same way too."

Maya said, "Hinata-chan and I have been talking a lot with Hanako Obaa-chan and we found out something from her we want to share with you. Come sit on the bed and Hinata-chan and I will show you what she found."

Naruto was pulled to the center of the queen sized bed by Hinata who hugged him. Sitting down in the lotus position he saw Maya pull out the massive book of Uzumaki laws and sat it in front of him. Then she came around and sat down beside him. "There is a section in this book about marriage laws we want you to see Naruto-kun so please read it with us okay?"

"Marriage laws?" said Naruto with a puzzled look on his face. Seeing the girls both look at him earnestly he opened the book and saw the first twenty or so pages were blank. Opened the book was nearly four feet wide.

"I don't know why the wasted so much paper." said Hinata. "Maybe they were saving room for more laws?"

"If this book is from Uzu then…." Naruto closed the tome and channeled chakra into the cover. A tiny seal appeared in the top right corner and Naruto examined it closely. "It's a blood seal." said Naruto as he bit his thumb and placed a drop of blood on the seal. The faded green cover suddenly started glowing with seals and opened on its own to the front page where an elegant script appeared:

 ** _To all those descended of the hallowed Uzumaki Royal Lineage:_**

 ** _Congratulations! You've found the secret message –ttebasa!_**

 ** _-Uzumaki Ashina_**

Beside the signature was a drawing of a chibi Uzumaki Ashina giving you the victory sign….

Naruto sweat dropped. "….For countless generations my family has been made up of people who are pranksters and have had verbal tic; -ttebayo…."

Hinata was trying to stifle a giggle at Naruto being pranked by his own ancestors and Maya let out a snort. Finally seeing the completely flat look on Naruto's face at being a _victim_ of a prank the two girls were practically howling in laughter at his expense. Naruto just sighed and decided to let the girls get all the giggles out of their systems. But the two girl's laughter was infectious and before long Naruto was laughing too.

It took a few minutes for them all to calm down and Naruto said as he wiped a tear from his eye, "Well, I guess this means I have a cool Uzumaki Jiji that's been pulling this one over from the other side for a long time."

As he turned the pages the endpapers became brilliant paintings of the Land of Whirlpools, Royal Family charts and genealogies as well as a few portraits of several red haired men and women that Naruto was descended of. Naruto was amazed these people were his _family_ and was staring in wonder at each portrait and picture. At the end of the genealogical chart he saw handwriting he recognized –his Mother's. The girl's eyes grew huge as they say the two names Uzumaki Kushina had written in beside and below her own:

Husband: Namikaze Minato

Child: Uzumaki Naruto

"Your Father was the Yellow Flash?" asked Maya. Naruto nodded with a sad, faraway look in his eyes as tears started to form. Maya felt panicky but then she cupped Naruto's cheeks and gave him a sweet, gentle kiss filled with all the love she felt for him. "Don't cry Naruto-kun. Your Tou-san and Kaa-san are watching over you proudly from the other side and Hinata-chan and I love you. We always will."

….Naruto soon found out about the laws that would allow him to have a harem. The idea terrified him and it took Naruto a while to calm down. Maya and Hinata told him they would keep him safe from fan girls and shared several long, sensual kisses with him to make Naruto feel better. When it was all said and done all three of them mutually decided to quit before it all exploded into a full make out session. When Naruto got back to his room he had his precious book and even more precious thoughts of love for the two beautiful girls (who were now his _girlfriends_ ) that had captured his heart….

 **Konoha Ninja Academy, Tuesday**

At close to six in the morning Tomoe Hikari appeared in a body flicker outside the classroom for Yūgao's Advanced Genin Class and knocked on the door. She heard Yūgao's voice say "Enter!" and opened the door.

The advanced genins were all a bit puzzled seeing Hikari enter in her full ANBU gear minus her mask. Naruto was puzzled by her presence and Sasuke was actually pleased to see the highly attractive blonde. Hikari bowed to Yūgao after she closed the door behind her. "Forgive the interruption of your class Yūgao-sempai but I've come with a message for Naruto-sensei." Yūgao motioned for the younger ANBU to go ahead and Hikari said to Naruto, "Your afternoon class has been cancelled Naruto-sensei. A number of your students are undergoing medical treatment. There was an accident during training and-"

Naruto stood up with an air of authority that no one in the class knew he possessed. "How bad are the injuries Hikari? Class can be cancelled but my student's welfare cannot. Do I need to see them?"

Hikari stood at attention and said, "No Naruto-sensei. The chain of command told me to assure you that they are all right and will be able to resume class tomorrow."

"That's a relief. Were their injuries class related?" asked Naruto.

"They weren-" started Hikari.

Sasuke interrupted and said. "It seems your students in pranking had one backfire on them Naruto. I guess your stupidity is rubbing off on them."

Naruto _appeared_ in front of Sasuke and sent him flying into the wall with a vicious right hook. He then grabbed Sasuke by the throat and rammed his head against the wall. " _How_ _dare_ _you make light of my student's injuries Uchiha!_ Perhaps I should put _you_ in the hospital again!" The flames in Naruto's eyes and the sheer killing intent sent chills down everyone's spines.

"Go back to your seat Uzumaki." said Yūgao in an emotionless tone. "You need to learn to control your temper."

Naruto locked eyes with his sensei for a moment and then released to still stunned Uchiha. "Yes Yūgao-sensei." he said quietly. Naruto walked back over to his seat.

Hikari was glaring at Sasuke who was shakily getting back in his seat and said, "Such disrespect for your Konoha comrades well being is unacceptable Uchiha-san. Interrupting a formal report in a non-emergency situation is also unacceptable."

Yūgao said, "I'll see to it that my student is punished appropriately Tomoe. Please finish your report to your sensei."

Hikari nodded. "My classmates were injured during training in areas unrelated to your class Naruto-sensei. They weren't doing anything unauthorized by your guidelines. That is the end of my report."

Emi thought to herself, ' _I had no idea Naruto-kun could be so…. **dominating**. It's kind of sexy. I **like** it._ '

Maya and Hinata looked at Naruto with worry. They could tell how upset their boyfriend was.

Naruto nodded. "Very well, thank you for your report Hikari."

Hikari smiled at him warmly and nodded. "I'll be going then sensei."

Yūgao interjected, "Tomoe, will you be free since your class is cancelled? I could use an extra hand if you aren't busy."

Hikari raised an eyebrow but then her green eyes sparkled. ' _Spending more time with Naruto-kun. Yes!_ ' "I'll get it cleared with the Commander. I should be back with an answer shortly." She vanished in a body flicker.

Yūgao turned to the now coherent Sasuke. "You and I will be having a discussion about interrupting your _superiors_ during your normal breakfast time _Academy Student_ Uchiha.

Sasuke fumed. ' _Not only am I getting punished but Naruto made me look like a fool in front of Maya **and** Hikari!_ ' " _Naruto_ isn't my superior in any way!" he spouted angrily.

"You interrupted an ANBU Agent giving a formal report to her sensei." said Yūgao.

"But what about-" started Sasuke.

Yūgao said irritably, "Do you want to go without lunch too Uchiha?"

Swallowing his pride and glaring at Naruto; Sasuke said, "No Yūgao-sensei…."

 **ANBU Headquarters**

Hikari was in her mask reporting to ANBU Commander Dragon and informed him of her sempai's request.

Dragon said, "Well, I was going to give you the rest of the day off since training has been cancelled but if Yūgao requested your presence then you are free to help her out if you wish Gazeru. You might be able to help give her students a dose of reality."

Gazeru nodded. "Very well sir, I will be at the Academy with Yūgao-sempai then if you need me."

 **Ninja Academy Training Grounds**

Hikari re appeared in a body flicker by Yūgao at the obstacle course where the _ANBU Brats_ where hard at work. "Reporting for duty Yūgao-sempai." she said bowing slightly.

"I'm glad you could spare some time Hikari." said Yūgao appreciatively. "How long are you available?"

"Commander Dragon told me I could assist you the rest of the day." said Hikari. "Just let me know what you need me to do."

Yūgao smiled in surprise. "Really? That's _excellent_ Hikari. We're going to begin sparring soon and I'd like for you to watch my student's forms and mingle with them a bit. Since you're only a year older than them maybe there won't be such a strong barrier to break socially and you can give them a few pointers. You're actually a bit more knowledgeable with taijutsu styles than I am so you'll probably notice a few things I've missed."

"Okay, I can do that." chirped Hikari. She was in a good mood.

When the sparring started Yūgao informed them that Hikari was going to be there to help them out with their forms and observe their sparring matches. Hikari told everybody just to call her by her given name and explained she was close to the same age they were and hoped she could help them. Everyone seemed relieved that Hikari wasn't there to grade them and she sat among the students to watch the spars.

' _Well, it looks like I'll be able to redeem myself in front of Maya and Hikari after all._ ' thought Sasuke. "I challenge Uzumaki!" said Sasuke with a smirk.

"You'll go against whoever I chose you to go up against Uchiha." said Yūgao as she looked over her list. "First up is Natsume Maya and Uzumaki Naruto."

The new girlfriend/boyfriend smiled at each other eagerly and got into the sparring ring. Maya assumed the Natsume stance and Naruto took the stance of the Whirlpool style he was still learning. Maya said, "You'll lose if you stick with that style."

Naruto answered, "I have to get used to it naturally through combat. Don't hold back."

Yūgao said, "Begin!" and Maya and Naruto exploded into action. Naruto's new spinning and swirling style was still very unrefined but what few hits he landed _really_ hurt. True to her word though, Maya was able to overwhelm him with her superior mastery of the Natsume style. Finally, a brutal roundhouse kick from Maya sent Naruto careening end over end out of the ring. Naruto was laying face first on the ground and Maya landed gracefully in the Natsume style opening stance with a smile on her face. Yūgao declared Maya the winner as Maya went over to help Naruto up off the ground.

Naruto was smiling despite the fact his face was sporting an imprint of Maya's combat sandal. The two bowed to each other and said, "Thank you for the spar." Before they went over and were reseated with the others. Sasuke complimented Maya's _'proving her superiority_ ' which she promptly ignored and Kiba laughed at the footprint on Naruto's grinning face.

Hikari looked concerned at Naruto but saw his face was visibly healing before her eyes. _'Is it because of the Kyubi? At this rate Naruto-kun will be completely healed within a couple of hours._ ' She came over and saw Hinata and Emi fussing over Naruto a bit. Emi said, "Was that really necessary Maya-chan? Naruto-kun is still learning a new style!"

Maya shrugged. "Naruto-kun is _fine_. I'll be hurting a lot longer than him because of his healing factor. Anyway, he _did_ say not to hold back. He certainly didn't take it easy on _me_."

"Do you want me to heal your face Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata.

"It's okay Hinata-chan." said Naruto. "Save your chakra for your spar. You know that I'll heal up quick and Maya-chan has done worse to me in the past."

Hikari came over and said, "You mastery of the Natsume style is excellent Maya-san; I'm surprised that Academy students are going full contact like this. Naruto-kun, _why_ are you experimenting with a new style in high level sparring, you could really get hurt!" The concern in her voice was obvious and it made Maya and Hinata (and Emi) wonder just what kind of a teacher-student relationship the two had.

Naruto smiled, "Hikari-chan, it's just as I told Emi-chan here. I learn with my body by doing and this is the best way. Heck, Bunshichi-sensei beats the tar out of me every weekend. Don't worry about it."

Hikari was somewhere between concerned about Naruto's apparent lack of self preservation instincts and over the moon. _'He called me Hikari- chan!_' she mentally squealed in happiness.

"Isuzu, you're up!" called Yūgao. "You too Nara."

"Troublesome…." said Shikamaru. Unlike her cousin Choji; Emi _wasn't_ gentle in a spar at all. Sai once got his shoulder dislocated by the red haired girl from a grappling move Emi pulled.

 **Five minutes later….**

"Troublesome doesn't begin to express this situation…." whined/moaned Shikamaru in a high voice as he was hauled off on a stretcher with his hands clutching his injured privates.

Emi was blushing as red as her hair in embarrassment and said, "I _really_ meant to knee him in the gut….not lower..." She noticed every male present was nervously covering his family jewels….

Yūgao face palmed. "Ummm….yeah….winner Isuzu Emi…."

Hikari talked to each student after their spars and gave a few pointers to try out in the future. The last round was called when Yūgao said, "Hyūga Hinata and Uchiha Sasuke come up!"

Sasuke hadn't faced off against Hinata since she utterly humiliated him on the first day of sparring. He had a grudge against her a mile wide and the idea of hurting Naruto by beating his dear Hinata- _chan_ senseless really appealed to the Last Uchiha. He entered to ring with an ominous smile etched upon his face.

For her part Hinata had been itching to destroy the Uchiha for repeatedly insulting her boyfriend Naruto-kun anyway. The Hyūga heiress had a stoic mask of calm indifference upon her face that her Father would have been impressed by….

"I hope you're ready for some payback you little white eyed slut." said Sasuke. "Things will be different this time. They are going to have to make extra room in the hospital after I'm through with you." Sasuke looked a bit too eager for Yūgao's tastes.

"Kick his ass _hard_ Hinata-chan!" roared Naruto.

Hinata activated her byakugan and smirked. "You may not be able to have children when I'm done with you Uchiha…."

"Begin!" called Yūgao.

Sasuke launched a brutal offensive that he'd been saving up to thrash Naruto with but Hinata just seemed to dance around it. Every once in a while he'd get a strike close and Hinata would change the trajectory of his attempts through minimal contact that would also leave Sasuke with a painfully closed chakra point or two. Losing his temper at not being able to land a single hit on her Sasuke instinctively darted a brace of shurikens at her. Two she evaded but the third cut into Hinata's left shoulder making her cry out. Sasuke ignored his sensei's scream of _no weapons_ and _the spar was over_ and closed in for the kill...the deranged smile on his face was almost orgasmic as he drew a kunai. " _I'll **butcher** that pretty face of yours!_" he yelled.

Sasuke saw Hinata's eyes focus on him again and heard her whisper. " _You are in the field of my divination_ …." In his haste to finish off Hinata; Sasuke suddenly realized he'd abandoned all defense just to physically hurt Hinata as much as he possibly could. He heard her yell, "Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms!" Hinata's fingers became chakra coated streaks of death as she rained hell down upon Sasuke at point blank range and the Uchiha's entire world exploded into pain. Sasuke's mind was a blur and his body felt utterly devastated as he started falling backwards. His eyes briefly focused on Hinata's cold but lovely visage as she gave him a truly savage smile.

Sasuke was already airborne from the sixty four palms when Hinata landed a rising snake kick to his testicles that made him choke and gurgle in agony as he flew completely out of the ring….and crashed a good fifteen feet outside of it unmoving and foaming at the mouth….

Hinata's point of view was blurred a bit when Yūgao-sensei appeared in front of her and told her to stand still so she could get the shuriken out. Yūgao summoned two of the medics away from the battered Uchiha and had them heal up Hinata instead. They quickly removed the shuriken that made Hinata wince and closed her wound up over the next twenty minutes. She saw her friends hovering behind the medics concerned. Naruto looked both sad and enraged that she'd been hurt that way. Soon enough Hinata was bandaged and had her flak vest back on.

"You have a very high pain tolerance Hinata-sama." said a Hyūga healer as she finished up. Hinata recognized the young woman as a member of the branch house.

"Hyūga….Suzu isn't it?" asked Hinata.

The young med nin smiled and said, "Yes, Hinata-sama; I am Suzu. I am honored that you remember me."

Hinata sighed softly, "I try to remember _all_ those in my family Suzu-san."

Suzu smiled approvingly. "You have been missed at the Hyūga Compound My Lady. We're going to take you to the hospital and get everything checked properly. This is an excellent combat field dressing but it would not do for our heiress to have an ugly scar." After confirming with Yūgao; Hinata was whisked away to Konoha hospital by Suzu. Maya and Naruto wanted to go with her but Yūgao ordered them to stay put. The pair glared mutinously but promised they would stay there.

Yūgao sighed. This had been a far more eventful morning than planned….

 **Natsume Clan Home**

While the Advanced Genin Class was trying to calm down Hanako was supervising Aya and Hanabi's morning. She'd checked up on Natsu earlier and found the young woman had blacked out and didn't remember anything about trying to violate Naruto. The kunoichi/maid also was suffering from the worst hangover in history so Hanako just ordered Natsu to stay in bed and sleep it off.

Aya was already dressed for the Academy and Hanabi was dressed for her morning training. The three quietly enjoyed a peaceful breakfast and soon Aya took off for her morning classes. Hanako then turned to her youngest granddaughter. "Alright Hanabi-chan; let's see about training you to be a bit more flexible this morning. We'll start with some light stretches and-" They heard a knock at the front door and both activated their byakugans. "Well, well. It seems that your new friend Senju Mito-chan is here with her Mother Senju Tsunade. I suppose we'll have to postpone our training this morning. Shall we go greet our guests?" ' _What could Tsunade want?_ ' wondered Hanako.

 **Ninja Academy, Room 301**

Sai was sitting in front of Yūgao. When everyone else was dismissed for breakfast Yūgao handed him a ration bar and led him back to the classroom. There had been silence while they each ate a ration bar and then Yūgao said, "I have a question for you ROOT. I know you were put in this class to monitor the other students for Shimura Danzo." (Sai wasn't aware Danzo was dead although Yūgao was).

"What is the question sensei?" asked Sai. "I will answer what I can."

The purple haired sword mistress said, "Give me a thorough analysis of Academy Student Uchiha Sasuke in reference to the pros and cons of dropping him from this class and the Ninja Program entirely."

Sai got a blank look on his face for a few moments. He wasn't expecting this. After gathering his thoughts Sai said, "The Uchiha is a loose cannon. He is skilled but is a danger to himself and those around him. He breaks ranks and his ego and personal desires override his loyalty to his comrades and superiors. He is a flight risk. His jealousy and immaturity regarding others, particularly Natsume Maya and Uzumaki Naruto, is growing greater rather than receding. My recommendation would be to drop him from the Ninja Program. His unwarranted attack on Hyūga Hinata earlier today would certainly warrant it. He should be placed under Lord Danzo's supervision for stricter training if he is to remain a ninja.

"On the negative side it would no doubt cause a political and social flurry if he was thrown out." continued Sai. "An appropriate punishment for his actions should be devised once he is out of the hospital regardless of whether he stays in the program or not. The Hokage and the Elders should be in on the decision. Your training methods are not to blame."

Yūgao nodded. "It seems we are on the same page ROOT. I'll be contacting Hokage-sama after class tonight regarding this mess."

 **Ninja Academy, Cafeteria**

At the far table Naruto was sitting with Maya and Emi. Hikari and Choji joined them as well. For their parts, Maya and Naruto were worried for Hinata and seething at Sasuke. Naruto would be at the Hospital but Yūgao-sensei made him promise to stay in class. She also told Naruto he couldn't kill Sasuke in revenge either which further soured the blonde's mood (and probably saved the Uchiha's life).

Choji said, "I can't believe what happened. I always thought Sasuke was a little unhinged but he was trying to _kill_ Hinata. Thank god she pulled off that sixty four palms move and protected herself."

Emi nodded. "No kidding! On the other hand I had no idea Hinata-chan was so tough. I've heard of that move but I've never seen it before."

"Hinata-chan just perfected it recently." said Maya. "She's been working really hard at it."

Hikari said, "For an Academy Student to have pulled it off is unprecedented. She must be some kind of prodigy. Still, I noticed her juken stances and forms were very unusual although incredibly effective."

Naruto explained, "Hinata-chan uses a modified juken passed down from her Obaa-chan Hanako. She is amazing at it."

Ino and Sakura were sitting with Kiba and Shino at the next table over. Kiba still had his left arm in a sling. "What can I say? The bastard deserved every bit of pain he got." said Kiba. My instincts told me all he wanted to do was harm Hinata. He was giving his all to seriously injure her or even kill her. Those shurikens weren't thrown by accident and the kunai was all the proof I need."

Sakura was depressed. The boy she'd idolized so long was turning out to be more and more of a psycho. "I don't know what to think. I know when his family got killed it messed him up but what he did today was completely wrong….Is his ego that important? I'm so thankful Hinata reacted in time."

"I could have seen him going after Naruto-kun that way." said Ino. Everyone raised an eyebrow at the – _kun_ added to Naruto's name but Ino didn't seem to notice and went on. "I mean; they are sort of rivals but Hinata? She's a sweet and kind girl. She beat him that one time but he went totally psycho on her today! I'm just glad she wasn't hurt worse. I think if Hinata hadn't retaliated so brutally then sensei would have killed him outright."

"She would have been in the right to do so." said Shino. "It could have been argued that he simply got carried away during the heat of a spar but when he pulled his weapons and didn't stop when Yūgao-sensei clearly ordered him to it crosses over into the realm of attempted murder. Hokage-sama is not going to be pleased with this."

"You think Hokage-sama will become involved?" asked Sakura.

Shino answered, "Logically I would think so but I don't know whether he would fall under ninja or civilian jurisdiction in this case. Perhaps Hikari-san could enlighten us."

' _So much for enjoying so alone time with Naruto-kun_.' thought Hikari. "I would have to say that Uchiha-san falls into a gray area here. If he were a full ninja he'd be stripped of his rank and punished accordingly by the Hokage. But in this case I'd guess his actual punishment would fall under civilian jurisdiction. He'll probably be dropped from the ninja program and get a slap on the wrist since he can probably afford all the lawyers he needs to weasel out of it. I'm not a lawyer though so I don't know what laws are fully applicable. Given his popularity with the villagers as the _Last Uchiha_ he _may_ get off scot free."

Naruto was about to say a few choice words at _that_ idea when ANBU Tortoise appeared in a body flicker. He immediately turned to Naruto. "Naruto-sensei we have a situation that requires your expertise. We haven't been able to locate Jiraiya-sama so Hokage-sama asked us to retrieve you immediately. You're with us Hikari."

"Understood." said Hikari. "I'll meet you on the roof." She turned to Maya who was holding Naruto's hand under the table. "Please inform Yūgao-sempai that ANBU requires Naruto-sensei's services and I will return with him once the situation is resolved."

Maya nodded. "Alright; be careful Naruto-kun."

Naruto squeezed her hand in reassurance before he stood up. "I will be Maya-chan. Tell Hinata-chan I'm thinking about her if I don't get back soon enough to see her with you at the hospital." He waved to everybody and said to Tortoise and Hikari, "Let's go!"

 **Konoha Hospital**

Team Gai was at the Hospital because once again Lee overdid it with his _Youthful_ workout program. Neji and Tenten were sitting in the waiting room while Gai-sensei was alternating between mother henning Lee and filling out and incident report. It was nothing major (or new) for Gai's team but both fifteen year old genins were a bit bored sitting around waiting in the uncomfortable chairs. That was when Hyūga Suzu came in and sat down. "Ah Neji-san, Tenten-san; good day to the both of you." greeted Suzu as she came in.

"Suzu-san?" asked Neji. "Is one of our clansmen injured seriously?" He knew the young medic well enough to realize she normally wouldn't be in the waiting room.

Suzu shook her head 'no' and said, "Hinata-sama took a shuriken in the left shoulder. I dressed the wound myself but I decided to bring her here to make sure the doctors could see to it she didn't end up with a scar. She insisted she would be fine but I felt otherwise."

"So it was training accident?" asked Tenten.

"Actually it was a deliberate assault on her person by Uchiha Sasuke in what was supposed to be a taijutsu only spar." explained Suzu. "He is in deep trouble for his actions and no doubt will be punished severely."

" _Where is he?_ " asked Neji coldly. " _I'll put him in his proper place for assaulting my cousin_."

Suzu raised an eyebrow. As far as she knew Neji despised his cousin….perhaps the situation had changed since she left. "Actually Neji-san; that won't be necessary. Hinata-sama utterly demolished the Uchiha with a sixty four palms strike and then ruptured one of his testicles with a rising kick of a style I didn't recognize. He is currently undergoing emergency treatment in the intensive care unit. I was quite elated to see Hinata-sama has grown so strong. She's done our clan proud and doing it against the so called _vaunted_ Uchiha is just icing on the cake. I'm sure Hiashi-sama will be thrilled. To be honest I'm just waiting for her to get finished up and I'll take her back to the Academy."

Neji quickly made up his mind. He hadn't seen his cousin since before she left. "I need to go see Hinata-sama and make sure she is well and congratulate her on her achievements. Can you tell me what room she is in Suzu-san?"

"She's down in 205 but should be out within a few minutes." said Suzu.

"If Gai-sensei asks please tell him I went to check on my cousin Hinata-sama Tenten." said Neji as he shot off.

Tenten smiled and waved as her teammate took off. "Maybe Neji can start building a positive relationship with his cousin now."

"What exactly happened?" asked Suzu puzzled.

Tenten replied, "I don't know all the details but Neji had a long talk with his Grandmother Hanako-sama and he told us it was his intention to be a good cousin to Hinata and he should have been all along."

Suzu was impressed. "I wonder what Hanako-sama said to him."

 **Hospital Room 205**

Neji came dashing into room 205 to check on Hinata-sama. ' _Today is a new start_.' he thought to himself. When he entered he saw a beautiful indigo haired kunoichi slipping her combat mesh on over her protective support bra. Neji's eyes were big as saucers as he watched those luscious curves and amazing breasts bounce a bit as the long haired kunoichi shook her hair out so it would lay down a bit. Her hair had a bit of a sexy, windblown look that made her seem even that much more enticing. ' _Who is this goddess?_ ' he wondered with a nosebleed as he continued to gawk at every curve.

His thoughts shattered like glass when the young woman looked up at him with narrowed lavender eyes and a twitching eyebrow. She spoke to him in Hinata-sama's voice. "Neji nii-san, you are supposed to _knock_ before entering a lady's room. Could you please wait outside while I finish dressing?"

Neji went into shock and was sporting an atomic blush as he realized this _goddess_ was his cousin! "F-f-forgive m-me Hinata-sama!" he stuttered as he dashed out into the hall.

Hinata sat puzzled for a moment and thought, ' _Did nii-san just stutter?_ ' Shrugging and not having a clue about Neji's perverted thoughts; Hinata decided to get the rest of her gear on.

Out in the hall Neji was having a nervous breakdown. ' _Oh. My. God. I can't believe that was Hinata-sama I was ogling and having lecherous thoughts about. When did she blossom into such a beauty? What a body! No! Bad thoughts! I may have to take a pilgrimage to the Fire Temple to cleanse my soul of this sin. I may have to become a monk! No; I am a proud and proper Hyūga damn it! I'm not some incestuous perverted sicko who lives out in the hills!_ "

While Neji was having a personal crisis in the hallway Hinata finished dressing and called out. "You may come in now Neji nii-san."

Neji did his best to regain his composure and quietly entered. Hinata was in her full ANBU style combat gear sitting on the edge of her hospital bed. Seeing Neji was a bit pale Hinata asked, "Are you alright Neji nii-san? You look flushed and a bit clammy."

"Forgive me for entering without knocking Hinata-sama." said Neji feeling embarrassed and mortified by his own thought processes. "I….heard you were injured from Suzu-san and came down to see you. Are you alright? She said you took a shuriken in the shoulder from the Uchiha."

Hinata said, "I'm just fine nii-san." ' _Why is he acting so nervous?_ ' "As you can see between Suzu-san and the Doctors here I'm all healed. They told me just to do light sparring the rest of the week. What are you doing at the hospital anyway nii-san?"

"My teammate Lee injured himself training again." explained Neji. "That's when ran into Suzu-san and she directed me down here. I didn't recognize you at first with long hair. I thought I was in the wrong room."

"I just got tired of the hime cut I've had since I was a child." said Hinata. "Do you think it looks strange on me?"

Neji waved his hands nervously. "No, no! It looks great! It suits you very well. I….ummm…."

There was a knock on the door and a nurse came in. "Here are your release forms Hinata-sama. I just need you to sign them and acknowledge that you are limited to light sparring until Friday."

"I understand." said Hinata sounding rather disappointed. ' _Damn! I was hoping I could get back to regular sparring but now I've given my word._ ' Hinata quickly signed the release forms in her elegant script and was told she was free to go and Suzu was waiting for her in the waiting room.

"I will escort you to Suzu-san Hinata-sama." said Neji getting up.

"It's just down the hall Neji nii-san. You don't need to escort me." said Hinata.

"It's only proper Hinata-sama." replied Neji as they walked together down towards the waiting room. "I am….glad you are unhurt."

Hinata smiled softly. "Thank you Neji nii-san. It means a lot to me."

Suzu smiled as the two cousins entered the waiting room. "Hinata-sama; you look right as rain now. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine Suzu-san; I'm just limited to light sparring for a few days is all." said Hinata. "Tenten-san; how nice it is to see you again."

Tenten smiled, "Wow Hinata, look at how you've changed since I saw you last. I like your new look. It's only been a few months but you look like a new person." ' _I wish I had a rack like that….Must be nice_ ….' thought Tenten depressed.

Hinata smiled, "Being put in the Advanced Genin Program kind of requires you to change a lot but I'm happy about it."

Suzu said, "Are you ready to go Hinata-sama? We need to get some breakfast in you and get you back to class."

Hinata nodded. "Yes, let us depart Suzu. I will see you again Tenten-san, Neji nii-san." With that Suzu whisked the two away in a body flicker.

Tenten sighed. "Damn, I hardly recognized Hinata. She even carries herself differently. She seems so much stronger now. I can't believe she can pull off the sixty four palms strike like you Neji. I was always under the impression she wasn't as suited to juken as you are."

Neji nodded. "Hanako Obaa-sama said that Hinata-sama's body type isn't suited for traditional juken but she's flourished by using and alternate type that Obaa-sama uses herself. I meant to congratulate Hinata-sama on defeating the Uchiha but I didn't even recognize her when I entered her room. It was rather embarrassing." he said with a slight blush.

Tenten chuckled, "Well, Hinata didn't seem to hold it against you so no harm done right?"

Neji nodded and said "Of course." But inside he was mortified that he'd been drooling over his cousin. _'That was just wrong.'_ he mentally sighed to himself.

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, I had every intention of including Hanako and Tsunade's chat this chapter but it just ran too long so we'll hit that next chapter. For those keeping score, Shikamaru is milking his injury for all it's worth, Hinata is patched up and Sasuke is settled into the hospital for a while. It seems his actions have pretty much sealed the coffin as far as his classmates are concerned and Yūgao is going to be talking to the Hokage about it. What will his fate be? See you next chapter. Blue out. 6/27/15


	18. Chapter 18

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I want to thank **OmegaDelta** for inspiring some of the ideas for this chapter. I'll be switching to updating all my regular stories in the next couple of weeks so expect a slow down on this one. Eighteen chapters in seven weeks has been a pretty good run for me. Here's chapter 18:

Last time:

 _Tenten sighed. "Damn, I hardly recognized Hinata. She even carries herself differently. She seems so much stronger now. I can't believe she can pull off the sixty four palms strike like you Neji. I was always under the impression she wasn't as suited to juken as you are."_

 _Neji nodded. "Hanako Obaa-sama said that Hinata-sama's body type isn't suited for traditional juken but she's flourished by using and alternate type that Obaa-sama uses herself. I meant to congratulate Hinata-sama on defeating the Uchiha but I didn't even recognize her when I entered her room. It was rather embarrassing." he said with a slight blush._

 _Tenten chuckled, "Well, Hinata didn't seem to hold it against you so no harm done right?"_

 _Neji nodded and said "Of course." But inside he was mortified that he'd been drooling over his cousin. _' That was just wrong__ _.'_ _he mentally sighed to himself._

 **Chapter 18**

 **Konoha Hospital**

While Sasuke was heavily doped up on pain meds and unconscious and Neji was considering shaving his head and taking an oath of celibacy, Nara Shikamaru was doing his best to remain bedridden in the Hospital due to _troublesome_ injuries to his privates. Alas, all good things must end and the scion of the Nara Clan was dragged back to the Academy by his equally _troublesome_ Mother, Nara Yoshino….

"What a drag…." moaned Shikamaru as he entered the cafeteria. "Now I have to eat my breakfast in a rush." He saw everyone turn to look at him and noticed that Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke and Sai were all missing from the group. "This just has _troublesome_ written all over it…." he grumbled as his classmates filled him in on all the gory details of Sasuke and Hinata's spar….The normally sleepy eyed boy soon had his eyes opened wide in shock at what he was hearing….

 **Konoha Ninja Academy building roof**

Naruto, Hikari and Tortoise appeared on the roof of the Academy via a body flicker and Hikari quickly donned her mask and became Gazeru. "Fox-sensei, don't forget your mask while on duty for the Hokage."

Naruto sweat dropped, _'Man;_ _I'm never going to get used to this_.' "Right." He quickly unsealed his smiling fox mask and placed it over his face. "Okay; ANBU Fox is on the job." he said as he took a heroic pose.

Gazeru giggled a bit and they body flickered away towards their destination: The Kurama Clan's mountainside Manor.

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Hanabi was showing her friend Mito-chan around the Natsume clan grounds with an escort from a shadow clone of her Grandmother Hanako's. Hanako herself was in the study with Tsunade (with the silencing seals active)….

Hanako brought out some tea, sat down and motioned for Tsunade to be seated as well. "So, Senju Tsunade the Slug Princess has come to grace me with her presence. I know you didn't just bring your daughter over to play since you would have just sent Shizune-chan over to do that. Why don't you tell me the _real_ reason for your visit Tsunade?"

Tsunade marveled a bit at the older woman. It seemed her rapier tongue and wit hadn't dulled a bit in the least in the past twenty years. "If you didn't already know, I'm going to be succeeding Sarutobi-sensei as the Fifth Hokage in a month's time." said Tsunade. "He has graciously agreed to become one of my two advisors and has my complete trust. Given we a building up towards another war I would like someone that the enemy fears and somebody who is experienced in conducting a war. _You are both_. Sarutobi-sensei has recommended you for the job _ANBU Commander Raven_ and I couldn't agree with him more."

Hanako raised a delicate eyebrow, "Who is this enemy that supposedly fears _me?_ There aren't that many people outside of ANBU circles that even have a clue as to who I was before I retired."

"The enemy is my ex-teammate Orochimaru." said Tsunade. "He has set up a new hidden village in Rice Country called the Sound Village and we are ninety percent positive that he has convinced Suna to join forces with him in attacking us in approximately seven months time. They are both mobilizing for war so we have to also in order to counter them."

Hanako pondered aloud, "Just in time for the chunin exams when our doors are flung wide open…." The Hyūga matriarch looked very calculative suddenly. "The White Snake Orochimaru….Hiruzen should have killed him when he had the chance years ago. You want to play on that aversion that he got to me after I swatted you three brats around. It never hurts to stack the deck a bit in your favor. Hmmm...with you as the new Hokage and both Hiruzen and I as you advisors it would certainly make Orochimaru second guess himself. Even the tiniest bit of doubt in a military commander's mind can be exploited by his foes. No doubt your husband Jiraiya helped you come up with that."

Tsunade was surprised. "How did you know that Hanako-sama?"

Hanako sat back looking pleased with herself. "Unlike you and everyone else I saw through Jiraiya's facade of a perverted simpleton decades ago. He's always been clever and cunning as opposed to being touted as a genius like Orochimaru or a prodigy like yourself. I'm guessing that it finally dawned on you when you decided to marry him, yes?"

Tsunade blushed. "You _knew_ all this time it was an act? _Why_ didn't you tell me?"

"Do you really need an explanation? It is because you wouldn't have believed me if I had told you." said Hanako in a lecturing tone. "He _is_ a pervert and _is_ childish but not nearly as much as he lets on. Besides, _if you can't fool your friends then how can you expect to fool your enemies?_ I don't know what changed between you two and frankly it's none of my business but obviously he was able to fix the broken Senju Tsunade that fled this village twenty years ago. I'd imagine you've changed him for the better as well." Hanako sipped her tea for a few moments and said, "Changing subjects, have you done an autopsy on Danzo's remains? I think that arm he had has Orochimaru's work written all over it."

"Yes I have and I have no doubt it is an experiment of Orochimaru's." said Tsunade. "That aside it's obvious that your instincts are as sharp as ever Hanako-sama. Will you become my advisor? I know you are retired but Konoha needs strength like yours again."

Hanako took a long, deep look into Tsunade's amber eyes. "Well, I can tell you are being sincere. If the situation with my grandchildren and the Hyūga Clan wasn't so precarious right now I would accept your offer. I've been a hermit for a bit too long you see so I actually _do_ like the idea of being active again. On the other hand I've neglected my grandchildren and they've suffered for it."

"I read the report on Hinata, Hanako-sama." said Tsunade darkly. "It is a wonder her spirit wasn't broken. You must be very proud of her to have gone through that trial and came out of it stronger."

"Then you understand why I'm hesitant to leave her and little Hanabi-chan by themselves Tsunade." said Hanako.

Tsunade nodded thinking of what she'd do if Mito-chan had been hurt that way. She'd probably have gone on a killing spree….consequences be damned.

Hanako sipped some more of her tea. "Give me two weeks and I will have an answer for you Tsunade. It's the best I can offer you right now. Is that acceptable?"

The head of the Senju Clan said, "I will do everything in my power to help you with your granddaughters whether you accept the position or not Hanako-sama. Two weeks is fine."

Hanako raised an eyebrow. "That sounded like the Fifth Hokage. Your ancestors would be proud of you Tsunade."

Tsunade gave a genuine smile. "Thank you Hanako-sama."

Hanako returned her smile. "What do you say we hunt down those two little nine year old girls and see what mischief they've gotten into?"

 **Kurama Manor**

The ANBU had the Kurama Manor surrounded but it was covered by a massive dome of flame that was actually a powerful (and lethal) genjutsu projected by Kurama Yakumo who was the heiress of the Kurama Clan. Naruto (ANBU Fox) was talking to Yūhi Kurenai about the situation. He'd met her before because she taught genjutsu to certain members of the Advanced Genin Class as an afternoon elective course. Haruno Sakura had excelled in that area under Kurenai's tutelage. Naruto figured Kurenai saw right through his ANBU Fox disguise (she was obviously a very intelligent woman) but she was keeping up the pretence that he was ' _Fox_.'

"So let me get this straight." said ANBU Fox. "Kurama Yakumo has a second, malicious personality that the Third Hokage had sealed up because it used genjutsus so dangerous they could actually _kill?_ "

Kurenai nodded sadly. "I failed her as an instructor and now that malicious personality named Ido has broken out of the seal and has taken control of Yakumo's body. Ido killed Yakumo's parents in a genjutsu fire and somehow placed the blame on the Third Hokage and I."

ANBU Raccoon was there and said, "Can you reseal this malicious entity in her psyche Fox-sensei?"

Fox shrugged and said, "Sure I can but why? It would be better to extract the entity from her mind and seal it up in a scroll for destruction later."

"You can actually _do_ that Fox-sensei?" asked Tortoise in disbelief.

Fox stared at Tortoise from behind his mask and said, "Did I not tell you that seals can do _anything_ student of mine? Keep an eye on the Kurama heiress so I can make a practical sealing array to do this with. Shadow clone jutsu!" Seven Duplicates of ANBU Fox appeared and each took a scroll from the original and started painting seals on their scrolls.

"What are you creating Fox-sensei?" asked Gazeru while she watched in fascination as his brush flowed artistically across the scroll. Racoon and Tortoise were watching bedazzled as well at the sheer complexity of the design.

Fox didn't take his eyes off what he was doing and said, "This is an advanced eight point seal anchoring point. Once all eight points are anchored then we will use it to trap Ido and we can extract her from Yakumo. It will also disrupt her chakra so the genjutsu should drop. I'll need the ANBU to help me place the seal anchors and keep them charged with chakra."

"Wouldn't a six point seal do the job Fox?" A tall, white haired man asked as he walked up.

Tortoise looked up from his sensei's work and saw the toad sannin standing there. "Jiraiya-sama, are you here to take command?"

"No, I think I'll just observe." said Jiraiya. "I believe ANBU Fox has this business well in hand so I'll assist if I'm needed. I do wonder why you aren't just using a six point seal Fox. They are so much easier to make and should be sufficient."

Fox said, "A six point seal won't contain and explosion in a worst case scenario and the extraction process will be made much easier because the entity Ido will be totally immobilized with an eight point seal Jiraiya-sama." ' _So this is the man Jiji wanted me to meet_.'

"Far be it from me to argue against overkill." said Jiraiya as he admired his godson's seal work. ' _He's doing an eight point multi layer seal so effortlessly. Naruto is definitely your son Kushina-chan_.'

Within five minutes eight very complex anchoring scrolls were completed and all seven copies of Fox said, "Seal!" in unison with the original which finished the process.

Jiraiya said, "Very impressive work; how can I help Fox?" Fox looked up at Jiraiya and handed him a scroll which the toad sannin promptly unrolled and whistled as he studied it. "A combination extraction and containment seal. Is this another invention of yours?"

"Yes." said the blonde seal master. "Why use two seals when you can use one?"

"Where do you need me to be to activate it?" asked Jiraiya looking impressed. "Does it need to be in physical contact with the girl?"

Fox shook his head. "No; as long as you are within twenty feet and in a direct line of sight of the Kurama Heiress it should work. Once the eight point field is up and the genjutsu drops it's a simple matter of getting in position, activating the scroll and letting it do its job."

"You _do_ know anyone of us here could do that don't you Fox?" asked Jiraiya with a smirk.

Fox nodded. "Yes, but the gleam in your eye told me you would want a front row seat to watch that seal at work."

 **Konoha Ninja Academy**

Hinata was welcomed back to class by everyone about an hour after breakfast was over. Normally Yūgao would have been irritated that her students completely broke ranks and forgot they were in the middle of a lecture so they could socialize. But the ANBU sword mistress decided that a little unity in the class would help ease the tension that was so apparent in the classroom. It had been a very rough day. Everyone but Naruto and Sasuke were accounted for now and the class seemed to have completely shunned Sasuke for what he did.

"Hinata-chan, are you okay?" asked Maya with great concern in her voice. "We've all been really worried about you."

The Hyūga heiress smiled and said, "I'm just fine Maya-chan. There isn't even a scar. I just am limited to light sparring the rest of the week." Hinata rotated her shoulder around showing she had a full range of motion. "See? Everything is fine and it doesn't even hurt."

The kunoichis were all gathered around Hinata and making sure she was okay. "I'm so glad Hinata." said Ino. "I was so afraid for you."

Emi and Sakura expressed their thankfulness as well. "I'm glad there's no scar Hinata." said Sakura. "I just can't believe what happened."

After about twenty minutes Yūgao said, "Alright everybody, let's all settle down. Hinata is okay and that's the main thing. You all can socialize over lunch. Let's get back to class." Hinata raised her hand. "Yes Hinata?" asked Yūgao.

Hinata said, "I couldn't help but notice that Naruto-kun and….the _Uchiha_ are missing. I see Hikari-san is missing too. Did something happen?" ' _God I hope Naruto-kun didn't try to murder the Uchiha and got himself locked up!_ ' Hinata thought worriedly.

Yūgao deduced what was going through Hinata's mind pretty quickly and smiled. "The ANBU needed help in Naruto's area of expertise and he and Hikari left to deal with that. He may be gone the rest of the day but hopefully not." Seeing Hinata let out a visible sigh of relief Yūgao said, "Let's all be seated now class; we have a lecture to continue."

 **Kurama Manor**

Naruto and his seven shadow clones were each 500 feet from the manor's center where Yakumo was and were equidistant from each other. Each shadow clone had an ANBU with him. Gazeru was with the original and everyone was waiting for the seal to be activate. Naruto activated his radio and said "On my signal….Three, two, one, mark!" Naruto and his seven shadow clones all said "Fuinjutsu, eight point seal!" as they channeled chakra into the eight anchor points simultaneously.

Gazeru and Naruto's other two students on the ANBU sealing team watched in amazement as the anchor seals lit up and shot a line each towards the center. The genjutsu shattered as concentric rings formed around the entire manor with complex symbols along every line in the seal pattern. Within a minute the glowing seal was complete and stabilized. "The eight point seal is complete." said Fox over the radio. "ANBU take over charging the anchor points from the shadow clones. Jiraiya-sama, you are clear to enter the Manor."

"Roger that Fox; nice work." radioed Jiraiya as he entered the manor with Kurenai following along to help with Yakumo. As the two entered the manor they saw all manner of paintings, most of them disturbing and showing images of death –many of them Kurenai's death. "Well, this is rather unsettling." said Jiraiya to which Kurenai just nodded sadly.

They soon got to the room that Yakumo was in and found the girl immobilized lying on the floor and crying. Above her seemingly suspended in the air was the grotesque, semi amorphous form of Ido who was screaming for vengeance against Konoha in general and Kurenai in particular. Yakumo's eyes turned to look at Kurenai and she said in a broken tone, "Kurenai-sensei; I _….I_ killed my parents. I remember everything now. Please kill me sensei! I just want to die…."

Kurenai wanted to rush to Yakumo's side but Jiraiya held her back. "Stay clam. We have to get rid of Ido first; then you can help her Kurenai."

Kurenai said, "We're going to get rid of Ido for good Yakumo. Just hold on and I'll help you."

"Sensei please…." said the crying heiress.

Jiraiya slapped down the scroll Naruto gave him and said, "Extraction seal!" Ido started making even more noise as seal emblems shot across the floor and then formed around Ido in the air and started spinning around it rapidly. Ido was entrapped in a tornado of sealing energy. Jiraiya then took his hand off the scroll and said "Containment!" Ido's form was immediately sucked into the scroll which rolled itself up and entrapped Ido for good. Seeing Kurenai waiting Jiraiya said, "Now you can help your student."

Kurenai shot forward to comfort the crying girl as Jiraiya radioed the ANBU, "Extraction and containment complete. Drop the seal ANBU." Within seconds the seal lines that had Yakumo imprisoned vanished and the girl was crying openly and apologizing repeatedly in the arms of her sensei. Kurenai held the distraught girl close to soothe her.

"It's going to be alright Yakumo." said Kurenai. "Ido's gone for good and we can make a new start of things."

Jiraiya soon got a radio call from Naruto. "Were there any complications Jiraiya-sama?"

Jiraiya replied, "The seals worked perfectly Fox; I think this young lady is going to get another chance at life thanks to your abilities. Well done."

The ANBU all sighed in relief once Jiraiya gave the _all clear_ signal. It had been a taxing day….

 **Konoha Hospital**

Sasuke was in really bad shape. When he woke up he virtually hurt from head to toe. Memories went through his mind of blood flying from Hinata's shoulder when his shuriken hit her and the feeling of elation he felt when she cried out. Then Sasuke remembered the completely feral smile on her face before her hands turned into twin blurs….Her hands struck like twin vipers and said Hinata something he didn't understand...Time seemed to slow down in his mind then….The last thing he remembered was a feeling of weightlessness and pain in his groin so bad that he blacked out. It all flashed before his eyes in an instant. Had the little Hyūga witch kicked him in the balls?!

"How are you feeling since your successful orchiectomy Uchiha-san?" asked a nurse as Sasuke came back into the world of consciousness.

"W-what?" moaned Sasuke in pain. He opened his tired eyes and saw he was in a white room. "A-am I in the hospital?" He saw the nurse in front of him come into full focus and his entire body shuddered from the pain hitting him full force. "Uuuugh…." he moaned pathetically. "What the hell happened to me? I hurt all over."

The nurse quietly started checking his vitals and said. "You were injured Uchiha-san. I'm not sure of the events surrounding it as the medic nins were sworn to silence. I'll inform the ANBU that you are awake." She stepped out of the hospital room and then came back a few seconds later to finish taking the rest of his vital signs.

"How badly am I injured?" asked the last Uchiha. ' _This pain is unbearable….I've never hurt so badly in my entire life….It's like my entire body is bruised inside and out_.'

"Your chakra system has been badly damaged and several of your internal organs were injured so seriously that we had to perform an orchiectomy on one of them." explained the nurse.

"An orky-what?" asked Sasuke.

Two ANBU came into view. It was the medic Dove and her partner Bear. "What nurse Fukuya is telling you in layman's terms is you were badly internally injured and your left testicle was ruptured so had to be removed Uchiha." said Dove rather darkly.

Sasuke's mind flashed back to the beginning of the spar…." _You may not be able to have children when I'm done with you Uchiha_ …." is what Hinata had said to him with a cold smirk on her pretty face….

Sasuke reached down very painfully and felt an _absence_ of a certain body part. " ** _OH MY GOD ONE OF MY NUTS IS MISSING!_** " Sasuke screamed in a high pitched voice as reality hit him in the face like a freight train.

Thus the legend of ' _old one nut_ ' was born….

 **ANBU Headquarters**

Naruto was writing out his formal report to the Hokage with Hikari helping him. She was giggling in amusement that her brilliant fuinjutsu sensei could do something like sealing psychic demons away so easily and yet had a hard time with written reports. The very idea seemed ludicrous to her. To Naruto's credit though; he got it right on the third try. "Excellent Naruto-kun; this report is well written and concise. I can't believe on your first report you referred to Hokage-sama as _Jiji_ though!" the girl laughed.

Naruto grinned covering his embarrassment. "Go ahead and laugh it up Hikari-chan. I've _always_ known Hokage-Jiji as _Jiji_ though. It was just automatic."

Hikari smiled. "Since you were one of the cornerstones of that operation we'll need you to present your formal report verbally to Hokage-sama as well." She put her mask back on and said, "I'll body flicker us to the Hokage Tower. Don't forget your mask _Fox_."

Naruto sighed and got his mask on. "Okay, let's go Gazeru. We can't keep Jiji waiting."

 **Hokage Tower**

Ten minutes later after talking to the Hokage's secretary; Gazeru knocked on the Hokage's door. "Remember to address him as _Hokage-sama_ Fox-sensei….this is a _formal_ report." she whispered.

"Yes Gazeru; I'll remember." Fox whispered back as they were given permission to enter the office Naruto was so used to just entering nonchalantly without bothering to knock.

"ANBU Gazeru and ANBU Fox reporting Hokage-sama." said Gazeru as they both bowed respectfully. It was quite obvious she held the Hokage in _very_ high regard to Naruto (Not that he didn't. His form of respect was just different towards the old man).

 **Academy Cafeteria 1 P.M.**

All the kunoichis were sitting together at the far table conversing about the day's events. "Well, to be honest we were all sick with worry about you Hinata-chan." said Emi. "None of us really gave a damn about the Uchiha so I don't have any idea what kind of damage you inflicted on him. I think the consensus is whatever you did to him he probably deserved worse. He was rushed out on a stretcher though; the bastard."

Ino nodded. "We were all just so stunned that he went totally psycho on you Hinata. I think Maya and Naruto-kun were going to rush after you to the hospital and probably murder Sasuke but Yūgao sensei made them swear not to."

' _Since when has Ino called him Naruto- **kun**?_ ' wondered Hinata. "When did Naruto-kun and Hikari-san leave to go on their mission then?"

Maya answered, "Naruto-kun left with Hikari-san and ANBU Tortoise right in the middle of breakfast. He said to tell you he was thinking about you if he wasn't here to see you when you got back."

Hinata gave a soft smile knowing Naruto was thinking about her. "I just hope he's being careful." said Hinata. "It's just like Naruto-kun to the first _Academy Student_ to be on an _ANBU_ mission."

"Now that you mention it you're absolutely right Hinata-chan." said Emi with a chuckle as she stood up. "I'm sure he can handle it. He's a big boy you know. Anyone want to join me for fourths?"

"We're all stuffed on our firsts and second servings Emi-chan. I wouldn't survive a third round." said Maya as Emi dashed off. "Man that girl can pack the food away! Where does she put it all I wonder?"

The kunoichis all watched as Emi and her cousin Choji got back in line for more food….

 **Hatake Kakashi's residence**

Yūgao slipped out of the Academy during the lunch hour and went to see Hatake Kakashi who used to be her superior in ANBU. The sword mistress wanted his input about how she should present her case to the Hokage about Uchiha Sasuke's actions. Kakashi had his Sharingan removed years ago when he found out his supposedly late ' _best friend_ ' Uchiha Obito was the one responsible for the Kyubi's attack and the death of his beloved sensei Namikaze Minato and his beautiful wife Kushina. The idea of having Obito's sharingan eye implanted in his own body disgusted him to the core once they positively identified Obito's remains. After that Kakashi became increasingly bitter about life and the Uchiha Clan in general. There had been suggestions for him to take Sasuke in after the massacre of the Uchiha Clan since he could help with training Sasuke in using his sharingan (though he no longer possessed one) but Kakashi said he wanted nothing to do with the brat and that Uchiha Itachi made a mistake in letting Sasuke live….

"So after all this time the kid finally snapped huh?" asked Kakashi after hearing Yūgao's tale about the spar between Hinata and Sasuke earlier today. "I recommended back when the massacre occurred that he shouldn't become a ninja and should be dropped from the program because of psychological issues but the Elders all claimed Konoha ' _needed him as a show of strength_.' I wonder what they'll say now."

"I don't know Kakashi-sempai but that's why I'm asking for your advice on the matter." said Yūgao. "Unlike you I've never initiated the equivalent of Court Martial proceedings.

Kakashi looked at Yūgao with his one eye (he had an eye patch over the other socket) and said, "How would this be dealt with if it was any **_other_ ** student Yūgao? What would you recommend if someone _else_ tried to murder the heiress of the most prestigious clan in Konoha as opposed to the _Last Uchiha?"_

Yūgao answered, "I'd recommend they drop him from the Ninja Program citing mental instability and being a danger to others, then seal off his chakra and lock him up for as long as possible. His potential teammates in the class could never trust him after he tried to murder a comrade. He's a lost cause as well as a waste of resources in my opinion regardless of whether he posses talent or not."

Kakashi nodded. "And Uchiha Sasuke is no different from anyone else in the Ninja Program. That's how you should deal with him as well. Go for the jugular like you always do Yūgao; public opinion be damned. Talk to the Hyūga Clan if you need political support. I'm surprised they haven't stormed the hospital on their own accord personally. Rumor on the street has it the Hyūga heiress damn near killed him anyway. Did that girl _actually_ pull off a sixty four palms strike on him?"

"I saw it with my own eyes Kakashi-sempai." answered Yūgao. "I honestly have never heard of an Academy Student pulling that move off before. It's rather unprecedented. When I asked her about it she told me she was learning from her Obaa-san, Hyūga Hanako-sama.

Kakashi's one eye widened. "Well no wonder she's so strong then. Hanako-sama is a living legend."

Yūgao raised an eyebrow. "I haven't heard of her before Kakashi-sempai."

Kakashi hand signed [ANBU] and then said, "Trust me, she's a legend."

Yūgao smiled and her eyes glittered. "It sounds like she might make a good ally if things get ugly in this situation."

Kakashi gave her an eye smile. "That she might Yūgao."

Yūgao soon bid her old sempai farewell and headed back towards the Academy before the lunch hour ended….

 **Hokage's Office**

"And that concludes my report Hokage-ji, I mean Hokage-sama." said Fox.

Hiruzen smiled. "Well, you get a nine out of ten for effort Fox. You still slipped up and tried to address me as Jiji twice though." the elderly Hokage chuckled. "By the way, Jiraiya gave a glowing report on your conduct in the field. Just remember to maintain that same field discipline when giving reports to your superiors in the future."

"Yes Hokage-sama." answered Fox.

"You two are both dismissed." said Sarutobi as he heard Naruto's stomach _roar_ in hunger–which in turn made Hikari's stomach growl (much more quietly) as well. Her body language showed embarrassment unlike Naruto's. "While you're at it; both of you grab some lunch before you go back to class; dismissed!"

Both Gazeru and Fox saluted before Gazeru whisked them away in a body flicker.

 **Konoha Ninja Academy 2 P.M.**

Yūgao arrived right on time and saw her students filing back into the classroom in from lunch. She noticed Hikari and Naruto had yet to return though. She went through her notes and said, "Jonin Yūhi Kurenai won't be available to teach genjutsu today Haruno and Yamanaka so just use your first hour for study until your med nin sensei gets here. On another note; it doesn't look like Uzumaki's going to be back today so I'm trusting you to give him a copy of the class lecture notes for today's classes Natsume."

"Yes sensei." answered Maya. Though the Natsume heiress hadn't ever been told about it she assumed her sensei knew about Naruto's current living situation though he still technically had his own apartment. _'I'm going to have to get with Hinata-chan so we can convince Naruto-kun to get rid of that apartment and move in for good. Maybe Hanako-Obaa-chan could give us a hand too_.' thought Maya to herself.

 **Akimichi Barbeque Restaurant**

"Are you sure this is okay Hikari-chan?" asked Naruto as he and Hikari were seated. "We could have just gone back to the Academy cafeteria for a quick bite."

"Of course I'm sure." quipped Hikari. "You did an _amazing_ job out there today so you deserve a big lunch with good food!" ' _More importantly: alone with me!_ ' "Besides, there's only an hour left of the school day anyway."

"There's two hours left Hikari-chan." corrected Naruto after he checked his watch.

Hikari shook her head 'no.' "Nope; _our_ last class hour is cancelled today so you might as well relax Naruto-kun. It's the Hokage's orders after all."

Naruto shivered. "I hope Yūgao-sensei doesn't murder me for skipping out like this."

Hikari giggled at his terrified look. "I've got you covered with Yūgao-sempai. Just order whatever you want; it's my treat!"

 **Hyūga Clan Compound**

Hyūga Suzu was concluding her report to Hiashi-sama. "Hinata-sama comported herself with dignity and grace. She is a true credit to our clan. It is not my place to say Hiashi-sama but I would think the entire clan would be elated to hear of Hinata-sama's progress. Putting the Uchiha in his place so effectively certainly proved once again why the Hyūga are the premier clan of Konoha."

Haishi looked troubled. "As happy as I am to hear that Hinata-chan is doing so well; I am incredible disturbed and angered at the Uchiha's actions against our beloved heiress. Have you told anyone else of this?"

"I informed Neji-san while I was at the hospital." said Suzu. "He was very concerned for Hinata-sama's welfare and insisted on seeing her to make sure she was alright despite my assurances. I believe Neji-san wishes to make amends with Hinata-sama and I am thankful for that."

"That is good news." agreed Hiashi. "I will be discussing this matter with Hokage-sama and Hinata-chan's sensei. One way or another the Uchiha will pay _dearly_ for this. The village may give him special treatment but he's gone too far this time. I will _have his head_ for trying to harm my Hinata-chan!" ' _I will head to the Natsume residence to see my little girl whether Kaa-san approves or not!_ '

 **Hokage Tower 4 P.M.**

Having dismissed her class a few minutes early Uzuki Yūgao went over to the Hokage Tower and immediately sought to present her report. Hiruzen called her in a few moments after her arrival given he had a good idea as to why she was there to begin with. Upon her entry the elderly Sarutobi said, "Sit down Yūgao; bad news travels fast so I'll need to hear your report on the situation between the Hyūga and the Uchiha. Hiashi's already been here and the Hyūga Clan is already baying for Uchiha Sasuke's blood."

The gears in Yūgao's mind spun quickly at this news. _'It must have been that Hyūga medic that took care of Hinata. Good, that will make my job that much easier_.' "Hokage-sama, I apologize for not coming directly to you first. I did not think the Hyūga Clan would find out so quickly."

"It is of no concern Yūgao." said Hiruzen seated herself. "If there is anything I've learned over all my years it is the fact that the best kept secrets in a ninja village are usually the fastest to hit the rumor mill. Am I to understand that Uchiha Sasuke attempted to harm or possibly kill Hyūga Hinata with both kunai and shuriken in a taijutsu only spar?"

Yūgao nodded. "Yes, sir. I attempted to intervene but I was a second to late and Hinata defended herself first. The Uchiha said I quote; ' _I'll butcher that pretty face of yours_ ' to Hyūga Hinata. At the least he attempted to do grievous bodily harm to her; at the most he attempted to murder the Hyūga heiress. The truth is probably somewhere in between. If he were a full ninja I would recommend a full tribunal be appointed for a court martial. Given he is still technically an _Academy Student_ I would at the very least drop him from the Ninja Program."

Hiruzen nodded and jotted a few notes down. "Noted; now tell me how you personally feel about this situation _ANBU Cat_. What do you think his punishment should be?"

Yūgao took a deep breath and said, "Academy Student Uchiha Sasuke is a danger to himself and those around him. He is psychologically unstable and though I do not believe it was premeditated I do believe he was trying to kill his fellow student Hyūga Hinata. He should have his chakra sealed and be locked up for attempted murder. He is a waste of valuable training resources to the Ninja Program and by my evaluation should have been dropped from it long ago. It was not until this incident that I realized how truly bad it was."

"Would you be willing to stand by that statement in a court proceeding?" asked the Hokage.

"Yes Hokage-sama, I would." stated Yūgao.

The elderly Hokage nodded at her display of resolve. "This is classified ANBU Cat but under my authority as Hokage; Uchiha Sasuke is to be tried in a Court Martial as a full ninja would. This village will not tolerate these actions by _anyone_. The fact he is the _Last Uchiha_ does not make him above the law. A thorough investigation will be taking place but rest assured that Uchiha Sasuke is no longer a student in the ninja program. He is a criminal and will be punished as such."

Yūgao let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Thank you sir."

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, it seems that Sasuke's virtual immunity to prosecution due to his social status has just come crashing to an end. As you can see, Hatake Kakashi has a completely different outlook thanks to Obito's actions. He may or may not become a sensei for the advanced class. Hiashi seems to have taken the initiative and perhaps this might close some of the gaps between him and his estranged daughters. See you next chapter. Blue out. 6/30/15


	19. Chapter 19

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well, I've started updating my other stories as well starting with _Dragon's Maw_. (Which I received a huge number of anonymous flames over. WTF?) I intend to update _Magik_ next if all goes well. Here is chapter 19:

Last time:

 _….tell me how you personally feel about this situation ANBU Cat. What do you think his punishment should be?"_

 _Yūgao took a deep breath and said, "Academy Student Uchiha Sasuke is a danger to himself and those around him. He is psychologically unstable and though I do not believe it was premeditated I do believe he was trying to kill his fellow student Hyūga Hinata. He should have his chakra sealed and be locked up for attempted murder. He is a waste of valuable training resources to the Ninja Program and by my evaluation should have been dropped from it long ago. It was not until this incident that I realized how truly bad it was."_

 _"Would you be willing to stand by that statement in a court proceeding?" asked the Hokage._

 _"Yes Hokage-sama, I would." stated Yūgao._

 _The elderly Hokage nodded at her display of resolve. "This is classified ANBU Cat but under my authority as Hokage; Uchiha Sasuke is to be tried in a Court Martial as a full ninja would. This village will not tolerate these actions by anyone. The fact he is the Last Uchiha does not make him above the law. A thorough investigation will be taking place but rest assured that Uchiha Sasuke is no longer a student in the ninja program. He is a criminal and will be punished as such." _

_Yūgao let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Thank you sir."_

 **Chapter 19**

 **Konoha, Hokage's Office**

"The only reason Uchiha Sasuke is even alive is due to the ANBU type protective gear he had on." said ANBU Dove as she examined the charts showing the severe damage to Sasuke's body. "The two Hyūga Clan members we had evaluate the damage to his body independently stated that the sixty four palms strike was executed perfectly. It seems Hyūga Hinata's potential is even greater than was realized. As an aside both Hyūga Clan members seemed extremely pleased if not ecstatic about this matter."

' _Hanako-chan must be proud_.' thought Hiruzen to himself. ' _Young Hinata may become the next **Raven** yet_.' "Thank you for your efforts Dove. The ANBU investigation seems to be proceeding smoothly. Is there anything further to report?"

Dove shook her head. "No sir; statements are still being gathered from all that were present including the Uchiha's classmates, teachers and any other witnesses. Should we move Uchiha Sasuke to the secure ward for his protection Hokage-sama? The Hyūga Clan seems to be _very_ interested in knowing _exactly_ where he is at all times. They've had someone on station near the Hospital to watch him from the very _second_ they found out about the situation."

Sarutobi pondered for a moment. "I made Hyūga Hiashi limit his clan's activities to legal ones but perhaps it would be a good idea to reinforce the idea with the clan that Sasuke is off limits. Knowing the Hyūga Clan as long as I have they are probably observing the young Uchiha to make sure he is unable to escape Konoha and the associated consequences."

"With all due respect Hokage-sama; the boy can't even crawl out of bed to use the bathroom." said Dove. "He is a complete and utter wreck physically. The nursing staff is calling him ' _one nut_ ' ever since he shrieked aloud about it; he woke up the whole hospital."

Hiruzen chuckled and asked, "Is that your diagnosis as a professional Medic Ninja Dove?"

Dove just shrugged. "Unless Tsunade-sama comes down to check him over herself I think that is as good a diagnosis as anyone is going to give at this point Hokage-sama."

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Naruto was dropped off by Hikari shortly before Maya and Hinata got home with Aya in tow. When Naruto saw Hinata he raced over to her and said, Hinata-chan; are you alright?! I went to the Hospital after my mission and they said you returned to class. I have been worried about you all day."

Hinata smiled and hugged her boyfriend. "I'm fine now that I'm here with you Naruto-kun. The scratch on my shoulder is all healed up and other than being limited to light sparring I'm good to go."

"Nee-chan, you're home!" said Hanabi as she bolted out of the front door to hug her big sister. "Hi Maya nee-chan, Aya nee-chan, Naruto nii-san. An ANBU came by earlier today to talk to Hanako Obaa-chan; she said you went to the hospital. Are you okay Hinata-nee?"

Hinata smiled and hugged her little sister. "As you can see I'm just fine Hanabi-chan. I'm surprised you came rushing out here without your sandals though. Where's Natsu-san?"

Hanabi looked sheepish and said, "Natsu-san is sleeping off a hangover is what Obaa-chan told me. What's a hangover nee-chan?"

Maya stifled a snort and Hinata smiled and explained, "It's like a really bad headache and nausea from drinking too much alcohol Hanabi-chan. Drinking too much is a bad thing and you shouldn't do it."

Putting her hand on her chin in a thinking pose; Hanabi said, "That explains things then. I heard Hanako Obaa-chan scolding Natsu for being a wimp and a lightweight before she sent Natsu-san to her room."

Naruto and the girls were doing their best to stifle their laughter but weren't doing very well. The idea of Natsu being confined to her room by Hanako was hilarious. Finally, Naruto said, "I just love Hanako Obaa-chan!" as he laughed. He then scooped up Hanabi which made the little girl squeal and the group walked back into the house.

Once everyone was inside and settled and Hanako came out to join them in the dining room Hinata explained the situation in an edited version so Hanabi wouldn't get upset that her nee-chan had been hurt.

 **Outside** ….

Hyūga Hiashi came trotting up to the Natsume residence in a cloud of dust with his nephew Neji right behind him. Hiashi knew that his Mother Hanako had a soft spot for Neji and brought him along to (hopefully) avoid his Mother's wrath at him going against the Hokage's (and more importantly Hanako's) wishes for him to stay away from his daughters. "Neji, are you one hundred percent positive that Hinata-chan was unharmed? I'm prepared to declare a blood feud with that little Uchiha bastard if she even has a tiny scar."

Neji answered, "Both Hinata-sama and Suzu-san assured me earlier today that Hinata-sama was all right Hiashi-sama. Suzu-san is a capable and respected medic so I think she would be well qualified to judge." Neji looked over at his normally composed, stoic Uncle. He'd watched as Hiashi unraveled from an emotionless, proper clan head into a nervous, terrified Father worrying about ' _his baby girl Hinata-chan_ ' as they traveled together from the Hyūga Compound to the Natsume Clan Home. Neji supposed that his Uncle's behavior might be considered humorous in other circumstances but given his own improper thoughts about his cousin earlier that day Neji felt he had no room to talk. The thoughts he had previously still made him blush in embarrassment.

At any rate, Neji had no delusions as to why he was here. His job was to act as cushioning should Hanako Obaa-sama get _displeased_ with Hiashi-sama's arrival at the Natsume residence. In reality Neji figured Hanako Obaa-sama would bat him aside effortlessly and rip Hiashi a new one with extreme prejudice should she wish to do so. Actually, the more Neji thought about it the more he decided he would just jump out of the way if it came down to being a meat shield between his Grandmother and Uncle. He'd side with Hanako Obaa-sama every time….Those _chopsticks of doom_ were deadly!

Neji was broken out of his semi mutinous thoughts by Hiashi-sama when they arrived. "Please knock on the door Neji." said Hiashi in a stately fashion.

Neji thought, ' _Coward; you're just staying back in case you have to run!_ ' "Of course Hiashi-sama." Neji went to the door and rapped on it crisply three times and waited….

….A minute later his Grandmother opened the door and said enthusiastically, "Good afternoon Neji-kun. How is my fine Grandson? Please come in!" Before Hiashi could utter a single word Neji was pulled inside by Hanako and the door was shut again in Hiashi's face….

 **Inside** ….

Hanako grumbled to Neji, "He used to send your Father ahead of him when he'd misbehaved. If he wants to see Hinata-chan he's going to have to knock on the door _himself_ and talk to me first!" She regarded Neji a moment. "Well, it's still nice to see you Neji-kun. Everyone is sitting in the dining room in back; why don't you join them? It would be good for you to meet your cousins' friends. Which reminds me, why haven't you brought over you genin team for me to meet?" Neji started sweating. "You aren't _embarrassed_ or anything are you?" she asked with a delicate eyebrow raised.

"Ummm…." Neji was really sweating under his Obaa-chan's gaze now. Her eyes were positively _gleaming_ with mischief. "Well, my jonin sensei is Maito Gai. He can be a bit…. _overenthusiastic_ about things."

Hanako got a rather nostalgic look on her face. "So he still talks about the _Flames of Youth_ like his Father Maito Dai did?" Seeing her grandson's eyes widen, Hanako said, "Bring your team over sometime. I'd like to see the kind of person Gai's turned out to be. His Father was a card but he was a good man through and through. I'd wager Gai has turned out the same." Neji (once again) was a bit shocked at his Obaa-chan's great insight. "Looks like Hiashi has finally gathered enough courage to come to the door. Go to the dining room and greet your cousins Neji-kun." said Hanako as she shooed Neji off and headed towards the door….

 **Outside** ….

' _It's just like when I was little!_ ' lamented Hiashi in his mind. ' _Kaa-san won't acknowledge my presence until I knock on the door **personally** and announce myself! Oh, the humanity!_ ' Gathering his courage Hiashi knocked on the door and said, "Kaa-san, it's Hiashi-kun. I know I'm not supposed to be here but please open the door."

Hanako opened the door a few seconds later and said in a scolding but sarcastic tone, " _My, my!_ This takes me back a few years Hiashi- _chan_. After all these years haven't you realized that **_you_** have to knock on the door? Using poor Neji-kun like you did your twin brother Hizashi; for shame!"

Hiashi wanted to cry in embarrassment. " _Please_ Kaa-san; have some mercy! I need to see my Hinata-chan and make sure she is alright! I'll see to it that Uchiha brat pays dearly for harming a hair on her head. May I _please_ see my precious girls Kaa-san?"

Hanako returned to her normal demeanor and said, "There; that wasn't so hard was it? All you had to do was man up and say please to your Kaa-san. Come in and sit down while I get Hinata-chan." Hiashi sagged in relief as he sat down in the front room. It appalled him how his Mother could make him feel like a five year old again –he just hoped Hinata-chan and the others hadn't heard her referring to him as Hiashi- _chan_. That would be a step _beyond_ embarrassing….

….

Hanako came into the dining room where everyone was seated and found the kids were all playing cards. Hanako said, "Hinata-chan; Hiashi-sama is here to see you and is very concerned about your injuries. Please talk with him in a courteous manner. Give him the full story. I'll wait in here with Hanabi-chan until you are done with your discussion. After that I will bring Hanabi-chan out if she wants to see her Father."

Hinata nodded. "I will do as you ask Hanako Obaa-chan." Naruto squeezed Hinata's hand under the table and she smiled at him softly before she went into the front room to talk with her Father. Squaring her shoulders; Hinata came out into the front room where Hiashi was fidgeting as he sat there. Hinata said with great formality, "I bid you greetings Hiashi-sama; I trust you are here because of the incident I had with the Uchiha?"

Hiashi looked up and saw Hinata in her ANBU style gear. Her hair had grown out more since he saw her at the hospital and in spite of himself Hiashi gaped at how beautiful and stunning his little girl had become. She carried herself as his Mother Hanako did. There was a quiet air of nobility and confidence that she exuded the Hiashi would never have dreamed Hinata could possess.

Hinata's eyes narrowed slightly and said, "Did you come to stare at me or did you want to discuss something Hiashi-sama?"

Hiashi would have sworn his Mother was talking to him in that instant and cringed. Resisting the urge to slap himself; Hiashi said, "I haven't seen you in some time Hinata-chan; you've become so radiant. I couldn't help but admire how beautiful you've become in these short months."

Hinata came over and sat opposite of her Father; well out of his arm's reach. She said in a business like tone, "I'm sure you didn't come here to sweet talk me Hiashi-sama. Please state your business so we can get on with this."

Hiashi sighed, ' _What I'd give for her to call me Tou-san again. Even Otou-sama would be welcome though it's too formal_.' "Hinata-chan I came out to discuss two things. The first is the situation with the Uchiha as I intend to do everything in my power as the head of the Hyūga Clan to see him brought to his knees for hurting you. The second is much more important though; I want to mend the broken relationship we have. I miss both you and Hanabi-chan every day. Not seeing my little girls has taken all the light out of my life. I'd do anything to-"

"Let's discuss the Uchiha." said Hinata cutting him off. "I presume you want a formal report of the incident earlier today so you can press charges?"

"Yes my daughter." said Hiashi somberly. ' _Will she ever forgive me?_ ' "Please tell me all that happened. I will destroy that Uchiha for what he's done to you."

"I already crushed him utterly." said Hinata without emotion. "Here is my report of what happened as I already told the ANBU…." Hinata described things to Hiashi in detail and more than once Hiashi wanted to yell in anger at what had happened. Hinata did show him where she'd been injured and that there wasn't even a scar much to Hiashi's relief. Hiashi wanted to hug Hinata and tell her how proud of her he was for mastering the sixty four palms but Hinata kept her distance from him. "Well, that completes my report Hiashi-sama. I trust that is all you need for legal proceedings."

Hiashi realized Hinata was about to get up and leave and said, "Please stay a moment Hinata-chan. Don't walk away from me again; I'm _begging_ you to let me make amends. Your Father has made some terrible mistakes and it's killing me inside. I love my precious daughters and heirs. I want both you back in my life. Tell me what it would take to make it up to you. When will you came home to me? I miss you and Hanabi-chan every single day Hinata-chan."

Hinata closed her eyes in deep thought for a few moments. It seemed like an eternity to Hiashi. Finally she opened her lavender eyes and said. "I don't know what you can do Hiashi-sama. After Kaa-chan died the Hyūga Compound became a prison for me where I was abused and oppressed. It's a cold, unhappy place full of bad memories and you cast me aside like garbage. ( _Hiashi winced_ ). Then the Elders did everything in their power to destroy me. Living here with Obaa-chan I am very happy and so is Hanabi-chan. I can't speak for her but I don't want to go back to that place."

Hiashi had tears in his eyes. "You are the heiress to the Hyūga Clan Hinata-chan. _Everyone_ misses your warm presence. There must be some way I can make it all up to you. Please just name it!"

The heiress sighed. "I can't think of anything Hiashi-sama. I think the wounds are too deep to ever heal."

"Would you be willing to spare some time for your Father Hinata-chan?" asked Hiashi. "Bring your Obaa-san if you like. If you and I could even enjoy tea together on weekends perhaps we could figure out a way to make peace between us and heal those wounds. Please give your Father a chance."

The Father and daughter stared at each other a long time. Finally, Hinata said, "I'll talk to Obaa-chan about it. Perhaps there is a neutral location we could have tea at if it doesn't interfere with my training schedule."

' _It's a start_.' thought Hiashi hopefully. "You won't regret this Hinata-chan; as your Father I promise you I'll make things right. I love you my baby girl."

Hinata looked a bit uncomfortable for a second and said, "I'll go get Obaa-chan; goodnight Hiashi-sama."

"Goodnight Hinata-chan." said Hiashi quietly as his eldest daughter departed.

….

Hanako soon came out into the front room with Hanabi holding her hand. Hiashi noticed that Hanabi seemed shy and a little fearful as she clung to her Grandmother.

Hiashi sad, "Hanabi-chan, I've missed you so much. Let me look at you. Won't you come give your Father a hug?"

Hanabi looked sadly at her Father, "Daddy; _why_ did you let all those terrible things happen to nee-chan? I want to know. _Hinata-nee-chan was hurt so badly!_ **_Why did you not stop them?!_** " yelled Hanabi as she burst into tears and clung to Hanako.

If Hinata's cool demeanor was like a kunai in Haishi's heart then Hanabi's tears were like the kunai was being twisted….

"Hanabi-chan, I didn't know…." said Hiashi weakly. It sounded pathetic even to his own ears….

Hanabi rushed forward and yelled through her hot tears as she pointed at him, " _You didn't know?!_ You're supposed to be the smartest and strongest in the clan Daddy! You are the clan head! _How could you not know?!_ "

Hiashi broke down and cried. He reached forward and embraced Hanabi in his arms and held her. "Daddy's so sorry Hanabi-chan. I love you and I love Hinata-chan. I made the terrible, _terrible_ mistake of letting the elders watch over you girls and they did horrible things behind my back. Please forgive me!"

Hiashi felt Hanabi slowly return his hug as they both cried. "My baby girl….I've wanted to hold you for so long…." He realized he was sitting in the floor cradling Hanabi. "Hanabi-chan; I want to make it all up to you and Hinata-chan. Please help me. I promise I'll make things better. Will you help me make things better Hanabi-chan?" he asked as he looked into her sad eyes with his own.

Hanabi looked over at Hanako who smiled encouragingly. Hanabi then turned back to her Father and said, "I'll try Daddy; but nee-chan was hurt so much that I don't think she'll ever forgive you. I love you but I don't know if I can forgive you either. Nee-chan needs me and I don't want to go back to the compound without her."

Hiashi gently ran his fingers through his youngest daughter's long hair. "Just do what you can Hanabi-chan. I don't want to separate you from Hinata-chan. I love you both and want to earn forgiveness from both of you. Please give Hinata-chan a hug for me. I don't know how I'm going to do it yet but somehow I'll make it all up to both of you Hanabi-chan." Seeing Hanako looking at him in earnest he said. "I need to talk to your Obaa-san for a little while. Will you give that hug to Hinata-chan for me?"

Hanabi gave her Father a soft hug and said. "I will. I'll see you later Daddy." Then she quickly hugged Hanako and then took off back to the dining room.

….

Hanako turned to her son after she watched Hanabi trot off. "Hanabi-chan is such a sweet child…." she said proudly. "I really didn't think you had it in you Hiashi. Perhaps I've been too harsh in thinking you didn't care about your daughters as a Father should. I think there's actually hope for this situation now. I had written off reconciliation as a pipe dream but if you are willing to go this far perhaps there is a chance to mend things even if it is a slim one…."

Hiashi had hope in his eyes as he looked at his Mother. "Will you help me Kaa-san?"

Hanako said, "It's up to you to make things right Hiashi-kun. It's going to be difficult and you and I haven't been close since you brother Hizashi died. Hinata-chan told me you asked to see her from time to time and I'll allow it but know this Hiashi: What happened to Hinata-chan injured her to the core. I can honestly say I don't believe that she hates you now but I don't think she loves you anymore either. It's not like you're going to be able to be her some candy and she'll forgive you for what happened. She's not a little girl anymore but a young woman. I've come to accept that you really were unaware of Hinata's mistreatment but as the Clan Head you are still ultimately responsible. I think you have a chance to make this up Hiashi-kun; I hope you don't waste it."

"I hope we can become close again Kaa-san; I've truly missed you." said Hiashi.

"It's within the realm of possibility Hiashi-kun." said Hanako. "Let's get you to the restroom where you can freshen up. You look like a wreck and it's unbefitting for the head of the Hyūga Clan."

 **Back in the dining room** ….

Hanabi came in quietly and saw everyone was still playing cards. It looked like it was down to Naruto (as always) and her cousin Neji. Hinata saw her little sister had been crying and pulled Hanabi up to sit in her lap. She then hugged Hanabi and kissed her on the temple. "Are you alright Hanabi-chan?" Hinata asked quietly. Hanabi nodded and snuggled closer. They made an unspoken agreement to talk later.

Hanabi looked up and saw Neji's eyebrow twitching in a rather manic way. Neji said, "You may have won the _last_ eleven hands Uzumaki but this time _I_ will emerge victorious!" He slapped his cards down on the table and said triumphantly, "Full house; Jacks over Tens! Beat that hand."

Naruto gave a fox like smile. "Pretty good Neji; I only have four Aces." He said as he smoothly laid down his cards.

"Four of a kind always beats a full house Neji-san." quipped Maya with a smile.

Neji face planted on the table. "…. _You are some kind of evil sorcerer with cards Uzumaki_." he said in a muffled voice.

Aya started giggling. "We did warn you Naruto-kun had the _devil's luck_ at cards and gambling Neji-san. Didn't you believe us?"

Hinata and Hanabi chuckled and Maya asked, "Well, Naruto-kun is twelve for twelve Neji-san. Do you want to go for a thirteenth round?"

"I give up." said Neji raising his head off the table. "I have drunk all the bitter wine of defeat I can handle for one night." Neji said in a dramatic fashion.

Hanabi snorted and then burst into a fit of giggles at the somber look on her cousin Neji's face. "Naruto-nii is impossible to beat at poker. Stick with checkers against him Neji nii-san." advised the nine year old.

"This is just sad." lamented Neji. "It is as you say Hanabi-sama. I'm just glad no real money was involved or I'd be broke." he said as he motioned to a large pile of chips all in front of Naruto on the table. Neji looked thoughtful for a moment and said, "Off topic but I haven't seen Natsu-san. She's usually always around cleaning. Is she here?"

Hanabi said seriously, "Natsu-san was bad and had a hangover so Hanako Obaa-chan scolded her and sent her to her room."

Neji's jaw hit the floor and everyone laughed uproariously at the look of utter shock and disbelief on his face. "I….I had no idea…." Neji said dumbfounded.

"Neither did we." Hinata said between giggles.

Hanako poked her head into the dining room and said, "Well; you all seem to be having fun. Did you fleece poor Neji-kun of all his chips Naruto-kun?"

"I'm afraid he did Hanako Obba-chan." said Maya with a smile and a chuckle. "We did try to warn Neji-san though."

Neji just sighed in embarrassment….much to his Grandmother's amusement….

 **Hokage's Office**

The Hokage's office was full of jonins as well as the two loyal sannins. Discussion was being made of the idea of cross training some of the existing genin teams with the advanced genin class of Uzuki Yūgao's. Maito Gai was standing in front of the Hokage reviewing the dossiers of the advanced genins. He was rubbing his jaw in thought and had a look of intense concentration on his face. "Hokage-sama; though the idea might seem radical by some I believe it would stoke the _Flames of Youth_ of all the new students as well as my own. I will volunteer my own youthful team to help in this youthful endeavor!"

Asuma commented, "I have to say the idea of giving Academy Students easy D-rank missions within the village walls is also very good. They could be supervised by just a chunin and earn them some spending money as well as earn the village some revenue. It would free up our genin teams for low C-ranks and real combat training."

Kurenai nodded in agreement. "I agree with Gai and Asuma Hokage-sama; something like this should have been implemented years ago. It's innovative."

"It was Minato-sensei's idea but he died before it could be put into effect." said Kakashi. "I'm glad you decided to give it a chance Hokage-sama. Minato-sensei would approve."

Hiruzen smiled. "Well, I can't take all of the credit. The idea of instating the Fourth's ideas were suggested by my successor, the Fifth Hokage, Senju Tsunade." he said proudly as he motioned towards Tsunade standing at his right. The jonins all stared in shock. "I'm telling you all this in confidence because she will be taking office in one month's time and we are quietly putting her ideas into effect. It's past time I retire again and with a war looming on the horizon we need a new, younger Hokage and our genins need to be stronger as well. The advanced genin class was the first move in our plans to bulk up our ninja forces. Depending on how successful it is we may incorporate some of the ideas into the regular curriculum as well as have future _elite_ genin classes."

The Third Hokage smiled at the _Will of Fire_ burning in the eyes of all present. "The Advanced Genin program has been a smashing success so far." he continued. "Forcing our youngsters to train seriously and think outside the box has far exceeded my wildest expectations."

A jonin asked, "Not to bring up a sore subject Hokage-sama but what about this disaster with Uchiha Sasuke? There is already a storm of controversy."

Puffing on his pipe, Hiruzen said, "Years ago, a young jonin named Hatake Kakashi objected the Sasuke remaining in the ninja program citing mental trauma and future instability. He was right."

"Then why was the Uchiha kept in the ninja program if he was already showing signs of being unstable?" asked the same jonin.

"My former teammates and advisors felt that taking Sasuke out of the ninja program would be a sign of political weakness." said Hiruzen in a grim tone. "They are no longer involved and ultimately young Sasuke snapped and now has to pay the price for his actions. Discussion of the situation with the _Last Uchiha_ is over and it will be dealt with within the next month before Tsunade takes office; is that understood?"

The jonins all answered in the affirmative.

The Hokage nodded. "Excellent. Gai, as of 4 A.M. Monday morning you and your team will be sitting in with the advanced genin class for their last month. I expect your students to help teach the others and do their best to learn new things as well. I'll set it up so you and Uzuki Yūgao can meet and get your students the proper ANBU grade equipment and attire. Everyone is dismissed. Kurenai, wait after a moment please."

Everyone filed out with Asuma and Kurenai giving each other a meaningful glance before Asuma left. Once the room was empty except for Kurenai; the Hokage and Tsunade; Hiruzen said, "Please have a seat Kurenai, I wish to discuss your request regarding Kurama Yakumo."

Kurenai looked rather tense. "I realize I gave up on her before Hokage-sama but since ANBU Fox removed Ido from her I believe Yakumo's true potential can be brought out. I realize this is totally contrary to what I said before but-"

The Hokage raised his hand to forestall further comments. "Kurenai, I'm well aware that you feel guilt for what happened but you did the best you could at the time. I'm also well aware that the young Kurama heiress is one of the most powerful genjutsu users in existence despite her lack of training. Bearing that in mind I have a proposal for you."

"A proposal sir?" asked Kurenai.

"You are one of my best jonins Kurenai and I want you to head up a genin team from the advanced group." Kurenai was about to reply but the Hokage cut her off. "I know you want to have Yakumo as your apprentice again but your talents are needed elsewhere. Now, as to my proposal; Yakumo's main problem is she has a weak body. If you can bring her up to par physically I believe she could fill the slot vacated by Uchiha Sasuke in the advanced genin group. If that is the case I guarantee she will be placed on your team as one of your three students. What do you say?"

Kurenai fidgeted a moment and said, "I would be very happy with that Hokage-sama; but how can I possibly strengthen her body so she can defend herself with taijutsu?"

"You have two powerful allies now Kurenai." said the Hokage. "Tsunade herself has agreed to personally oversee Yakumo's health regimen. There may be reasons that young Yakumo's muscles are weak. If anyone can solve that problem it is my student Tsunade; wouldn't you agree?"

Kurenai's eyes widened and she bowed. "Thank you Tsunade-sama; Hokage-sama! I want to make Yakumo's dreams come true."

"There is another that is going to help you Kurenai. It's your old classmate Maito Gai." Kurenai's mind was instantly flooded with horrible visions of poor Yakumo in a green spandex body suit screaming about the _Flames of Youth_. Not aware that his subordinate was having a mental crises, Hiruzen said, "I spoke to Gai at length about this and he knows of a very old style of taijutsu called aikido* that primarily uses an opponent's strength against them without using as much of your own. I believe that style of taijutsu combined with a proper health regimen from Tsunade will give Yakumo a fighting chance. If you agree to this I want you to talk to Yakumo this evening and report to Tsunade at the hospital at 8 A.M. in the morning. Do you accept this proposal?"

Kurenai nodded. "I'm sure Yakumo will be very pleased. I will explain to her she has to give her all though."

"That's a good attitude to have Kurenai." said the elderly Sarutobi. "Why don't you go see your student and talk with her at the Kurama Manor? I think you have much to discuss."

"Thank you Hokage-sama." said Kurenai as she vanished in a body flicker.

Tsunade grinned. "I believe you have a soft spot for Yūhi Kurenai sensei. Is there any particular reason? She seems a bit young for you."

Hiruzen turned to his student and scoffed. "Kurenai-chan and my son Asuma-kun have been head over heels for each other since they were just children at the Academy. They've kept it extremely well hidden but they can't fool me. I can't very well make a bad impression on my future daughter in law can I?" he said with a twinkle in his eye. "Besides, Kurama Yakumo could be an amazing asset to our ninja forces with the right guidance. It's not _all_ me being a big softie Tsunade-chan."

"But it _is_ a large part of it." laughed Tsunade.

Sarutobi Hiruzen just shook his head in defeat….

 **The path to the Hyūga Compound**

Hiashi said quietly but sternly, "I expect that things regarding my behavior around your Grandmother will be kept confidential Neji-san. It would not do to have anyone's reputations tarnished in the all seeing eyes of our exalted clan."

Neji looked at his Uncle out of the corner of his eye. ' _You mean the fact that the head of our clan is terrified of his own Mother? That certainly wouldn't fly._ ' "Of course Hiashi-sama; I understand perfectly." ' _Not that I entirely blame Hiashi-sama; Hanako Obaa-chan can be a **very** scary woman. I guess I'll have to invite Gai-sensei and my team over to see her soon. Given how she is about punctuality and all I should probably mention it first thing tomorrow_.'

While Neji was preoccupied with his own thoughts; Hiashi was lost in his own. ' _Kaa-san hasn't called me Hiashi-kun since Hizashi died. I've truly missed her. What a mysterious woman. Is this her way of opening the door for me once again…? Speaking of mysteries; Hinata-chan has changed so much. Kaa-san has made her so much stronger than I ever imagined possible. I'm so ashamed of myself that I cast her aside as worthless….I promise you my baby girl; I'll set things right no matter what it takes!_ '

POSTSCRIPT:

*Before any aikido practitioners go on a rant about me not understanding this particular martial art; this was the way it was described to me and Wikipedia seemed to generally agree. Yakumo's style will be based on countermoves that redirect an opponent's mass and momentum against them without exerting much physical force. I'm no expert on it and will never claim to be.

Well, it seems that perhaps Hiashi is finally making some progress with his daughters. Will he succeed? In the meantime, Yakumo is being given a golden opportunity to become a ninja once again and Gai's Team is going to be doing some cross training with the advanced genin class. Will they be teaching the advanced genins some things or will they just get schooled themselves? See you next chapter. Blue out. 7/12/15


	20. Chapter 20

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well, this chapter is a transitional one so no major battles, murders or public executions. (I'm saving them for later). Here's chapter 20; enjoy!

Last time:

 ** _The path to the Hyūga Compound_**

 _Hiashi said quietly but sternly, "I expect that things regarding my behavior around your Grandmother will be kept confidential Neji-san. It would not do to have anyone's reputations tarnished in the all seeing eyes of our exalted clan."_

 _Neji looked at his Uncle out of the corner of his eye. ' You mean the fact that the head of our clan is terrified of his own Mother? That certainly wouldn't fly.' "Of course Hiashi-sama; I understand perfectly." 'Not that I entirely blame Hiashi-sama; Hanako Obaa-chan can be a **very** scary woman. I guess I'll have to invite Gai-sensei and my team over to see her soon. Given how she is about punctuality and all I should probably mention it first thing tomorrow. '_

 _While Neji was preoccupied with his own thoughts; Hiashi was lost in his own. ' Kaa-san hasn't called me Hiashi-kun since Hizashi died. I've truly missed her. What a mysterious woman. Is this her way of opening the door for me once again…? Speaking of mysteries; Hinata-chan has changed so much. Kaa-san has made her so much stronger than I ever imagined possible. I'm so ashamed of myself that I cast her aside as worthless….I promise you my baby girl; I'll set things right no matter what it takes!'_

 **Chapter 20**

 **Konoha, Training Field 9**

It was early Friday morning and Team 9 was sitting in front of their sensei, Maito Gai. "….And I could not pass up this youthful chance for you to interact with your future comrades of the Advanced Genin Class that Uzuki Yūgao is teaching at the Academy. They are a year younger than you three and don't have the field experience you do. I will be there with you so we can share our youthful knowledge with them.

Tenten had a sour look on her face. "So for the next month we are going back to the Academy and babysitting the _ANBU Brats_ sensei? I can see how it would benefit _them_ but what are _we_ getting out of it? It's not exactly going to pay the bills you know."

"I'm so glad you asked Tenten-chan!" said Gai taking his 'nice guy pose.' "In addition to ongoing c-ranked pay to support yourselves and the feeling of youthful fulfillment; you will be receiving new ANBU grade armor, uniforms and equipment to help participate in the class. The ANBU equipment will be much more effective than your current gear."

Tenten's eyes were suddenly aflame. " ** _ANBU_** _grade armor and equipment?!_ " The weapons mistress was practically foaming at the mouth. "Where do I sign up?! I can teach _anything!_ "

Gai had a tear in his eye at the young kunoichi's display of her _Flames of Youth_. ' _This makes being a jonin sensei all worthwhile_ ….' he thought joyously to himself.

' _The pay is good and theoretically we can laze about eight hours a day. I'll have to step up my off duty training though_.' thought Neji. ' _On the other hand; Hinata-sama has become incredibly strong. I suppose that's all due to Obaa-chan rather than a simple Academy course though_.' "It should be simple enough to help them out and give them a few pointers. We've got eight months of field experience and a few C-ranks under our belts. I am for it."

 _Neji had no clue what kind of a minefield he was stepping into_ ….

"YES!" exclaimed Lee. "We will stoke the new genins _Flames of Youth_ to untold heights! I'm so glad for this opportunity sensei!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

Cue the unbreakable sunset genjutsu with crashing waves….

Tenten was face palming. "For the love of Kami I hope they don't traumatize the class with that on the first day….they might revolt and try to murder Gai-sensei and Lee once they get over the shock. It would probably be considered justifiable homicide as well."

"I'm in total agreement Tenten…." said Neji somberly. "I just hope they all don't try to kill us by association as well."

After ending the accursed sunset genjutsu/man hug from hell; Gai said to his three students. "I have the requisition paperwork right here." He quickly handed it out to his genin team. "Let us take a youthful run over to the ANBU Armory and pick up your youthful new armor and equipment!" For once it was Tenten leading the way in a sprint for Team 9….

 **ANBU Armory**

Taro saw a young kunoichi with her hair done up in buns burst in holding a piece of paper. " ** _I am here!_** " she announced while panting.

Taro sat down his weapons magazine and said. "So you are young lady, the question is _who_ you are and _why_ you are here in the armory designated for ANBU." He was smiling but puzzled at Tenten's odd behavior. She looked like she'd just run a marathon.

The sweating Tenten came up with a requisition form in hand and hunger in her eyes. Regaining her breath she said, "I….need….gear! ANBU gear **_now_** _!_ "

The slightly frightened Taro took the requisition form with her name on it from Tenten and read it. "More ANBU Brats?" he asked.

"I am an _ANBU Brat_ _tutor_ thank you very much." said Tenten in a pontificating tone.

About that time Gai burst in and said "Tenten-chan! You are positively overflowing with the _Flames of youth_ today! I am so proud. Even Lee-kun and I had to struggle to keep the pace with you."

Taro sweat dropped. "Hello Gai; it's been awhile. Is Tenten-san your student?"

"That she is Taro-san." said Gai proudly. "My genin team is going to be helping the Advanced Genin class in their studies and fan their _Flames of Youth!_ "

Lee and Neji came in gasping for breath a moment later. "Tenten-chan, your _Flames of Youth_ today know no bounds." said Lee between pants. "I must train harder so mine may reach the glorious heights yours have!"

"My respect for kunoichis has gone to a whole new level." gasped put Neji exhausted.

"Well said Neji-kun; Lee-kun! It's all a matter of proper motivation my students." said Gai sagely. "Cleary Tenten-chan's urge to teach others has _supercharged_ her youth today!"

"Gods what's all the god damn noise?!" growled Mura as she stormed out and saw the four newcomers. "Oh I should have known….Hello, Gai."

"Mura-chan! It is so good to see you!" said Gai joyously. "Everyone, Mura-chan is the one who fits out our ANBU with thereir armor and attire. Always trust her judgment when it comes to the appropriate clothing!"

"I see you still wear your blinding green body suit Gai." she said dourly. "Who is this poor boy wearing you hand me downs?" she asked looking at Lee with a combination of horror and pity etched on her face.

"Mura-chan; you know as Konoha's Sublime Green Beast I must wear attire that lives up to my reputation!"

"…." said Mura with a sweat drop.

"As for this young man, he is my apprentice Lee-kun who is following in my footsteps to master the fine arts of taijutsu."

"I am honored to meet you Mura-san!" said Lee enthusiastically.

' _Good god it's Gai's son or clone or duplicate or something. Was it some twisted form of mitosis? I don't want to think about it_.' thought Taro in fear as he handed Tenten's requisition form to Mura.

Mura quickly tuned out Lee and Gai's youthful ranting and said, "Come with me Tenten. Let's get you some clothing and armor."

Once Mura saw Tenten deposit her larger assortment of sharp, pointy metal objects and scrolls, Mura said' "So you're a weapons specialist? I see you are well toned for taijustsu and speed as well; no doubt due to Gai's influence." Mura quickly took Tenten's measurements and said, "Wait here." Mura returned a moment later and got Tenten fitted out with all the mesh armor and attire she needed. Mura was about to hand Tenten her vest when she asked with narrowed eyes, "So what do you think of the _Flames of Youth_ your sensei Gai lives by?"

Tenten's face was etched in horror and she blurted out " _It's a living nightmare!_ " Tenten then slapped her hand over her mouth and said weakly in embarrassment, "I mean, I highly respect Gai sensei's views…."

Mura barked out a laugh. "Well, at least you are _honest_. I like you girl; that's _rare_. Hang on a second." Mura disappeared into the back again and rummaged around for a few minutes before she came out with an unusual flak vest lined with extra pockets and holsters. It came with two bandoleers with kunai slots in them as well. "This is a special flak vest that weapons and demolition specialists wear. It's non-standard but I think it would suit you."

Tenten came out a few minutes later to get her weapons inspected by Taro. She was practically _glowing_ with excitement. This vest was very special indeed. She vaguely heard Mura say evilly, " _No more green for you brat!_ " in the background and Lee's anguished cry as Mura dragged the poor boy to the back and cackled maniacally. Tenten was really too absorbed in all the weapons lying around to care about Lee's fate.

Taro carefully checked the massive collection of armaments that Tenten kept on her person. "You've done a superb job of keeping all your weapons in top shape Tenten-san. They are excellent quality too." said Taro with approval in his voice. "The only thing I'm going to replace is these kunai. I'm sure you would prefer ANBU grade ones to what you have, yes?" he asked as he set a carbon steel kunai in front of her for inspection.

Tenten was carefully examining the kunai's weight and balance before asking about the tensile strength and shear strength of these kunai compared to her old ones (they were above average quality themselves). When she got in this mode Gai smiled at her enthusiasm and Neji typically had swirls in his eyes from all the technical jargon. About an hour later all of them were fully equipped in black ANBU style gear. For Tenten it had been uplifting experience and best of all she had more weapons at her disposal than most battalions. Neji felt the change in uniform was alright but he would have to get used to it. Poor Lee was suffering from trauma and an acute case of green withdrawal that Gai sensei was going to have to help nursemaid him through. On the positive side his uniform was no longer so loud that it was deafening….

Gai said, "Alright Team 9, we're going to spend the weekend breaking in and adjusting to your new equipment. On Monday morning you are to report to Academy room 301 at precisely 4 A.M. and I will meet you there."

Neji, Tenten and Lee's eyes were big as saucers. " ** _4 A.M.?!_** " they all cried.

"Well yes; you have to start early to fit in a twelve hour school day." said Gai nodding seriously to himself as if in deep thought.

Tenten said in a sickly, acidic voice, "Since WHEN did Academy days become twelve hours long?!"

Gai raised one of his enormous eyebrows. "That's what the Advanced Genin course entails; 4 A.M. to 4 P.M Monday through Friday plus homework on the weekends you'll be helping with….Didn't I mention that?"

 _Team 9's wails of horror rang throughout Konoha before they collectively face faulted to the ground_ ….

 **The Kurama Manor** ….

Kurama Yakumo was practicing her new exercises with the help of Kurenai-sensei. Her diet, exercise program and even her sleeping and eating schedule had changed. After completing her tai chi strengthening exercises Yakumo started her basic aikido katas which Kurenai learned from Gai. The more advanced ones Gai would be teaching Yakumo personally but she needed to get her body in shape and used to it as soon as possible. "Alright Yakumo, let's take a break." said Kurenai. "I'm very pleased at how well you've done Yukumo-chan. After we have lunch we're going to continue at an easy pace. How are you adjusting to that new uniform?"

"It's still a little stiff but I like it sensei." said the Kurama heiress happily. Truthfully Yakumo _loved_ her ANBU style uniform. She felt like a real ninja wearing it. It helped to motivate her. Kurenai-sensei explained that the Academy was going to be difficult but she had every confidence that Yakumo would persevere and do well. The brown haired, brown eyed girl was determined to make this work and make Kurenai-sensei proud of her. Tsunade had been very supportive as well and was confident they could slowly bring Yakumo's strength up to an appropriate level for a young kunoichi. Yakumo had no delusions that she would ever be a physical powerhouse but with her new training she would be brought up to average strength and endurance.

The Kurama heiress was a bit apprehensive about the Advanced Genin program but she was very excited as well….

 **ANBU Headquarters, 3 P.M.**

Naruto's clones were busily supervising and helping his students individually as they diligently worked on their assignments. It seemed that the entire class was absolutely amazed at the recent events at the Kurama Manor. Though Naruto was modest and said Jiraiya could have pulled it off himself his students (plus ANBU Dragon and the Hokage) were of the opinion that Naruto was _even better_ than the sannin with seals. Needless to say the class enthusiasm went way up. Even Tortoise was very eager to learn.

Hikari came up to Naruto's desk and presented an explosive tag seal for his approval. The clone helping her said it was excellent but she wanted to hear it from the _real_ Naruto-sensei. She was smiling hopefully as Naruto ran his fingers over the seal while inspecting it with a fine toothed comb. The class had all wondered about Naruto's habit of inspecting seals in a tactile manner instead of just visually but no one asked. "This is very good Hikari." said Naruto as he set the paper down. "You have storage seals, explosive tags, shock tags and smoke tags down perfectly with normal ink. I think next week we should move to chakra ink and put all your hard work to the test."

The approval in Naruto's voice made Hikari want to squeal with joy but instead she said, "Thank you so much Naruto-sensei; it means a lot coming from you." That's when she noticed Naruto's desk was full of manuscripts with editing marks here and there and an excessive amount of notes written in the margins. Curiously she asked, "What are all these papers sensei? Are they for class? They look like documents you are correcting or something."

"They are." said Naruto. "I went through over fifty fuinjutsu textbooks on the market for basic sealing and they are ninety nine percent garbage for teaching a _real_ class in fuinjutsu. They are amateur at best and useless at worst." Then he straightened the large stack of papers on his desk and said, "These are the rough drafts for the textbook I am creating for all of you in ANBU and future classes in the art of fuinjutsu. I have the knowledge but I've never written a book so I am collaborating with Jiraiya-sama to make the best textbook on fuinjutsu there is. His knowledge is extensive and between his experience as a writer and as a sensei he's been a huge help for me to get my ideas and instructions down in a format that's easy to read and interesting but still very informative."

"Wow, seriously Fox-sensei?" blurted out Mouse in an uncharacteristically loud voice.

The whole class had stopped what they were doing when they heard Naruto was writing a book for _them_. "I had no idea you were so dedicated sensei!" said Raccoon. "I'm sure between you and Jiraiya-sama it will be excellent." The rest of the class voiced their opinions in agreement.

Finally Naruto said, "Stop it you guys, you're making me blush." Everyone was very interested so Naruto read a rough outline of the table of contents and a few paragraphs aloud to them so they would have an idea. They were all rather amazed.

After class, ANBU Sloth (coincidentally a Nara) from Naruto's fuinjutsu class went to see ANBU Commander Dragon. Sloth was highly respected and experienced among the ANBU. He was a member of the sealing team and was the unofficial leader of the team. He'd been offered an ANBU Captain's position but thought it was too much of a bother (typical Nara) and turned it down. Still, his opinions carried a lot of weight. Dragon was surprised to see Sloth come in with such purpose in his step (normally Sloth shuffled along in a slow, lazy manner). After Sloth closed the door behind him, Dragon asked, "What brings you here Sloth? Do you have a report to make? I thought you'd still be in your fuinjutsu class."

"We just got out Commander. Permission to speak candidly sir." said Sloth.

Dragon nodded wondering what this was all about. "Permission granted Sloth; have a seat."

Sloth sat down and said, "Are you aware that ANBU Fox is going so far as to _write a book_ to teach his students sir?"

"I was aware he was discussing the idea with Jiraiya-sama. I don't know if anything has come of it though." said Dragon. "Why do you ask Sloth?"

"Fox-sensei read a rough outline and a few paragraphs to what he calls _Introductory Fuinjutsu Volume I_ to us today sir."

"….I see, and…?" asked Dragon wondering where all this was leading.

"It is absolutely brilliant!" declared Sloth. "Fox said he was writing it for _us_ and for his future students. I've read a few fuinjutsu books and they bored me to death but the basic introduction he read to us made me _want_ to read more. That book he is writing should be made a priority sir. I was there at the Kurama Manor and saw him at work. It had to be seen to be believed. He has so much knowledge to share that it is being wasted on just one class. If this stuff could be added to the Ninja Academy curriculum our students and future ninjas would have a _huge_ advantage later. I would go so far as to make basic sealing a _requirement_ for future ANBU. I'm _not_ exaggerating sir."

Dragon steepled his fingers on his desk as he leaned forward. "Then what as an experienced ANBU agent would you recommend Sloth?"

Sloth said, "Commission ANBU Fox to write an Academy Student introductory book and then an advanced book for full ninjas including a classified version for ANBU only. What I saw at the Kurama Manor was astonishing but realizing he can share this knowledge and teach it so well to others is beyond belief. He's just an _Academy Student_ but I would make him the head of the ANBU Fuinjutsu Team in a heartbeat if it were my choice."

Dragon's eyebrows raised behind his mask. ' _I would have expected this from Gazeru as she has a romantic interest in Naruto but **Sloth**?! I'm shocked he hasn't been sleeping through class. I don't think I've **ever** heard him this enthused_.' "I understand Sloth; I'll be discussing it this weekend with your classmates individually and see what the Hokage thinks. Keep this private; understood? If there is nothing else you are dismissed." Sloth saluted and left Dragon's office.

Dragon was pondering the idea and the pros and cons involved about this whole book idea in his head when ANBU Ferret from Naruto's class came in to talk to him about the same subject. Then ANBU Mouse came in ten minutes after that….And then ANBU Racoon dropped in after that. They all declared the same thing, ' _WE NEED THIS BOOK!_ ' Dragon decided to visit the Hokage later that evening….

 **Natsume Clan Home 4:30 P.M.**

Naruto (blissfully unaware he may soon be imprisoned in an office so he could write a book) was very happy to be home. They had no homework that weekend per Yūgao-sensei and they were informed a new student and three tutors would be joining them Monday. They all wondered why there was no 'homework from hell' but Yūgao-sensei informed them (confidentially) that there would be many legal proceedings because of the Uchiha situation. They were also told they may be called upon by ANBU agents for further information. The general consensus was Uchiha Sasuke was (rightfully) in deep shit. Even Sakura and Ino who were formerly Sasuke's biggest fans wanted him locked up tight. A heated spar that someone got carried away in was one thing but attempted murder was quite another….

Gossip around town was starting to go against Sasuke. The rumor mill was running at full steam but between the ninja population (who considered Sasuke a traitor for his actions) and the tremendous political influence of the Hyūga Clan public opinion was starting to swing against Sasuke and he was being labeled 'the next Uchiha Itachi.' The conspicuous absence of the Village Elders Koharu and Homura (who had always been his biggest supporters politically and otherwise) also led to a lack of support for Sasuke's case politically, legally and monetarily. A Military trial with a Tribunal was announced but who was on the Tribunal and the date of the trial had not been set yet….

Sasuke's amazing social life aside though; Naruto was looking forward to a peaceful weekend with his two beautiful girlfriends. They were thinking about going out to eat and seeing the latest _Princess Gale_ movie together on Saturday. Walking into the house he hugged and kissed both Maya-chan and Hinata-chan hello before he took a shower to get the days sweat and grime off of him. After a nice long shower Naruto came out and found that Natsu was dusting around the house. She seemed rather subdued and a bit sheepish. Natsu had no recollection of molesting Naruto but Hanako had informed Natsu of her actions and needless to say the kunoichi/maid was shocked and mortified at her unacceptable behavior. She meant to apologize to Naruto but was still far too embarrassed to broach the subject.

Naruto was of the mindset to pretend it never happened. But Maya and Hinata were plotting to have Natsu apologize on her hands and knees (After much discussion with Hanako Obaa-chan they both promised not to murder, maim or mutilate Natsu much to their disappointment). At any rate, everyone sat down in the front room and discussed their days with one another. Hanako made a decision. "Well, since you three have been working so hard in the Advanced Genin Class I think it would be nice for us to all take the weekend off from training and relax. It's good to give your bodies a break once in a while and since you have no homework it would be a good time to do it."

"Hot damn!" exclaimed Naruto joyously before the _chopsticks of doom_ whizzed across the room and decked him. "Owww…. _' **where** does she hide those?!_' I mean, you're the best Hanako Obaa-chan!" he said as he rubbed his forehead.

That's what I _thought_ you said Naruto-kun." said Hanako with a self satisfied smirk. ' _He is doing better but sometimes_…." she thought to herself.

 **Hokage's Office**

ANBU Commander Dragon was sitting with the Hokage. Hiruzen said in a business like tone, "The Military Tribunal will consist of you, Jiraiya and myself. As soon as the Uchiha can leave his hospital bed he's going on trial. That's estimated to be by the end of this coming week. Yamanaka Inoichi will be performing a mind walk this weekend once Ibiki has 'visited' Uchiha Sasuke. After that ANBU Fox will seal Uchiha Sasukes chakra and his bloodline. If and when we decide to repopulate the Uchiha Clan it will be via artificial insemination."

"No offense Hokage-sama but it seems you've already hung the _Last Uchiha_ before he's even been to trial." said Dragon.

"No offense taken Dragon." said the Hokage conversationally. "Under normal circumstances I would be quite a bit more delicate with a situation like this but Uchiha Sasuke has received his psyche checks from the same Doctor Genda Toru _every_ year since the Uchiha massacre. Coincidentally when Mitarashi Anko questioned him he immediately spilled his guts in fear of her. It turns out that he's been receiving large bribes from my former advisors, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu to say Sasuke is psychologically stable when he clearly is not. Doctor Genda has taken bribes from other wealthy members of our fair village as well so he won't being seeing the light of day for some time I'm afraid.

Dragon nodded in agreement. "I remember Anko pouting that a psychologist hadn't even put up some resistance. Given Genda was a civilian in background I hadn't seen the report yet. What did Yamanaka Inoichi say at the idea of mind walking the Uchiha boy?"

Hiruzen lit up his pipe. "Frankly, he isn't looking forward to it. I believe he said something about ' _Only Kami knowing what goes on inside the boy's deranged head_.' He also went on to say that he was eternally grateful his daughter wasn't the one Sasuke snapped on because she could have been crippled in a taijutsu match unlike the Hyūga heiress who is exceptionally skilled. Apparently Inoichi's daughter used to have a huge crush on Uchiha Sasuke but suffice it to say that came to an abrupt end. The saddest thing is Uchiha Sasuke could have at least been a productive civilian member of society with the proper psychological treatment. It's such a waste."

"And Elders Koharu and Homura?" asked Dragon. "We've had them in ANBU Prison for some time."

"Tsunade has made that her first decision to deal with after taking office." explained the elderly Sarutobi. "Their fate is her decision but between you and I; I'm of the firm belief she intends to make an example of them as to what happens to corrupt officials."

"I sense just a touch of eagerness in your voice Hokage-sama." stated Dragon.

"What can I say?" asked Hiruzen with a shrug. "They betrayed me; they betrayed Konaha and they betrayed the _Will of Fire_ they were raised upon. Tobirama sensei would be both disgusted and ashamed. It's kind of poetic justice that sensei's own grand-niece will be punishing them for their betrayal of our ideals. Enough of my ranting though; obviously it's a sore subject for me. You said there was something else aside of the Uchiha's trial you want to discuss?" the Hokage asked.

"It's about the fuinjutsu textbook that ANBU Fox has been writing with Jiraiya-sama." said Dragon.

"Yes, Naruto-kun seemed quite earnest about the subject." said Hiruzen. ' _The little brat went so far as to **blackmail** me over it! Oh well; at least I still have my **wonderful** picture of Hanako-chan_.' thought the Hokage.

Dragon nodded. "Apparently he has a rough draft of it and shared a bit of it with his fuinjutsu class after they asked him about it."

"What was their reaction to it?" asked the Hokage as he took another drag on his pipe.

"They were so enthusiastic about it that they requested that Naruto actually should be _commissioned_ to write it. They want it made a _priority_ project." said Dragon. "Four of them came completely on their own accord and told me about it individually. I talked to four of the others and they think this unanimously. I intend to talk to his remaining three students tomorrow to confirm. _Sloth_ suggested he write a basics book for the Academy and a classified version for the ANBU. He went so far as to suggest that we make it _required_ for the ANBU."

" _Sloth_ said that?" asked Hiruzen with raised eyebrows.

Dragon nodded emphatically. "Sloth was the first to voluntarily come to me with the idea of his own accord Hokage-sama. To be honest; for someone with a personality as lazy as his to come forward to me with such enthusiasm speaks volumes. Ferret, Mouse and Raccoon also came to me individually expressing the same sentiments."

"Inform Naruto to report to me at 8 A.M. tomorrow morning with a copy of his manuscript." said Hiruzen quickly writing a message scroll. "I want to see this personally." He added seriously. "If it can get the likes of Sloth excited it _must_ be something special."

"Understood sir." said Dragon in agreement.

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Gazeru appeared at the front porch of the Natsume Clan Home and sealed up her mask around six in the evening. She'd just gotten off duty but volunteered when Commander Dragon said a message needed to be delivered to Uzumaki Naruto. Dragon told her to deliver the message scroll about the fuinjutsu manuscript and she was very excited for Naruto that his book would receive such attention. Commander Dragon asked for an unbiased opinion about it earlier today and she told him it was brilliant. Of course, she was a tad biased when Naruto-kun was involved….

Knocking on the door, Hikari heard Natsu come padding up and answer it. Natsu opened the door and was surprised to see an ANBU there. "May I help you ANBU-san?" asked Natsu.

"Yes you may." said Hikari with a touch of excitement in her voice. "I am here to deliver a classified message to Uzumaki Naruto. Is he home?"

"He is, please come in ANBU-san." said Natsu. "Wait here and I will retrieve him."

Naruto soon came out and saw Hikari standing there taking in the view of the Natsume household. Her pretty emerald green eyes seemed to be sparked with interest. ' _So this is where Naruto-kun lives_ ….' She saw Naruto walking up. "Naruto-kun; I'm glad to see you. I have a classified document for you. Is there someplace private I can hand it off to you?"

Naruto nodded. "Sure; let's go to my fuinjutsu office. I was just practicing my calligraphy." he said as he led her back.

Maya and Hinata spotted Hikari immediately and were conversing quietly to each other. "There no way in hell Hikari-san doesn't like Naruto-kun. I say we interrogate her Hinata-chan. Watch her through the door with your byakugan and make sure she doesn't try to seduce him."

Hinata nodded and said, "Perhaps when she's done dropping off her message we can talk with her in private Maya-chan. Hinata activated her byakugan. "I hate to spy but if she's after Naruto-kun for his money or title we will have to chase her off."

 **In Naruto's office** ….

Hikari was looking around the office in absolute fascination. Row after row of fuinjutsu books were neatly shelved in order. There were so many multi volume sets it was unbelievable. The office itself was well lit, neat and spotless and all the papers and scrolls were impeccably organized in their own slots. Inwardly she cringed thinking of the fuinjutsu room at headquarters. It looked like a five year old got into several bottles of ink and decided to redecorate/go berserk. It was a disorganized pigsty and fuinjutsu guides were scattered about haphazardly. Usually finding a book to look up a seal took longer than it would to make the seal itself. That and it was poorly lit and decorated like a dungeon….

She saw Naruto's Fuinjutsu textbook drafts on the side of Naruto's table and suddenly remembered her actual reason for being there (Hikari had already been informed of the message). "Here you go Naruto-kun; it's sealed from the Hokage himself." she said as she handed the scroll over.

Naruto inspected the seal for tampering and then he opened the scroll. After looking over it for a minute he said, "Damn it Jiji; I wanted to sleep in tomorrow! Why does he want to see that thing anyway? It's not even nearly close to done."

"Naruto-kun, what you read us was brilliant." said Hikari with excitement dancing in her eyes. "I think that Hokage-sama just wants to review the manuscript to see it for himself."

Naruto asked with narrowed eyes, "And just _how_ did Hokage-jiji find out about my rough draft to begin with hmmm?"

"It wasn't me!" exclaimed Hikari while waving her hands. "Someone leaked it to Commander Dragon but I don't know who it was. The Commander asked my personal opinion later but he already knew about it. Anyway, everyone was so excited about it so it's no wonder that Hokage-sama is interested. I'd think you'd be enthised."

Naruto sighed. "If I had something to actually show Sarutobi-Jiji I might be excited but this is nothing compared to what I _want_ to make." He motioned towards a large set of volumes on the sheif with the Uzumaki swirl on the spine. " _Those_ are fuinjutsu sealing books. What I'm writing is so pathetic compared to them it's shameful."

"May I see one Naruto-kun?" asked Hikari sweetly.

Naruto shrugged and grabbed the introductory volume off the shelf. "Here you go Hikari-chan; this is the first volume so take a look."

Hikari opened up the old tome in the middle and saw advanced formulas and sealing patterns that completely blew her mind. With wide eyes she said, "What _is_ all this Naruto-kun? I thought this was supposed to be introductory stuff."

"It _is_ introductory stuff Hikari-chan." said Naruto. "These books break things down to the very basic components and formulas so you can _create_ seals. I'm not talking about showing you how to make a sealing scroll; I'm talking about all of the building blocks so you understand _how_ and _why_ the seal works. That way you could make a simple sealing scroll or dozens of variations to suit your purpose. For instance, I have a scroll with an already burning campfire in it for camping. It's only one use per scroll but it's really handy."

"You can actually seal _open flames_ in a scroll?" asked Hikari in disbelief. At Naruto's nod she said. " _That's absolutely amazing!_ Can I _please_ see it work Naruto-kun? _Please?!_ "

"Well, I don't see why not." said Naruto as he put his sealing book back on the shelf. "Let's ask the girls if they want to cook something over an open fire tonight for dinner. Are you off duty Hikari-chan?"

" _Yes!_ " shouted Hikari. "I mean, yes; I'd love to have dinner with you."

Naruto came out of his office into the front room and saw Hanabi working on her kanji. "Hi Naruto-nii-san, who might your guest be?" asked the little girl brightly.

Naruto smiled, "Hanabi-chan; this is Tomoe Hikari. She's a student of mine. Hikari-chan, this young lady is Hyūga Hanabi. She is Hinata-chan's little sister."

It's nice to meet you Hanabi." said Hikari kindly.

Soon, using Hanabi's byakugan they were able to round everyone up and everyone agreed that cooking over a campfire would be a nice change of pace. An hour later they were all outside and Naruto pulled out a scroll. Channeling chakra into it he said, "Campfire." and a smaller scroll popped out. Setting the smaller scroll on the ground Naruto motioned everyone to stand back and channeled chakra to the small scroll while saying, "Unseal!" The scroll opened and a medium sized campfire appeared in all its glory.

Hikari gasped and said. "That's _incredible_ Naruto-kun!" Everyone soon sat down peacefully and had a nice dinner together.

Hanako watched as Hinata, Maya and Hikari all vied for Naruto's attention. ' _This Hikari girl has it **bad** for Naruto-kun and he doesn't have a clue as far as I can tell. It seems it will fall into Maya-chan and Hinata-chan's hands to explain things to Hikari-san. Judging by the looks on their faces they know it too. Ah, to be young, foolish and in love again. On the positive side, Hikari-san is already in ANBU so she's no weakling. She's also quite attractive. Hikari-san also seems genuinely interested in Naruto-kun as opposed to some sycophant interested in his money. The way he hides it I wonder if she even knows that Naruto-kun **has** any money. He's **very** conservative with his spending. I suppose it comes from years of being poor. Hopefully it won't break out into a catfight. I really don't need that kind of headache this evening_.'

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, next chapter we'll see how the _Flames of Youth_ affect the Advanced Genin Class (and if Lee can survive without his beloved green). The Hokage is moving quickly on Sasuke's situation and it looks bad for the Uchiha. Will Sasuke be rescued in the eleventh hour? We also have Naruto's little textbook side project that may have exploded in his face and Hikari is showing more than a little interest in our blonde fuinjutsu master. See you next chapter. Blue out. 7/16/15


	21. Chapter 21

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well, I was listening to the song _Mission from God_ by the band _The Offspring_ and remembered the anime Kannagi (Crazy Shrine Maidens!) They gave me the idea for this chapter which is a bit of a detour. I present to you chapter 21:

Last time:

 _Soon, using Hanabi's byakugan they were able to round everyone up and everyone agreed that cooking over a campfire would be a nice change of pace. An hour later they were all outside and Naruto pulled out a scroll. Channeling chakra into it he said, "Campfire." and a smaller scroll popped out. Setting the smaller scroll on the ground Naruto motioned everyone to stand back and channeled chakra to the small scroll while saying, "Unseal!" The scroll opened and a medium sized campfire appeared in all its glory._

 _Hikari gasped and said. "That's incredible Naruto-kun!" Everyone soon sat down peacefully and had a nice dinner together. _

_Hanako watched as Hinata, Maya and Hikari all vied for Naruto's attention. ' This Hikari girl has it **bad** for Naruto-kun and he doesn't have a clue as far as I can tell. It seems it will fall into Maya-chan and Hinata-chan's hands to explain things to Hikari-san. Judging by the looks on their faces they know it too. Ah, to be young, foolish and in love again. On the positive side, Hikari-san is already in ANBU so she's no weakling. She's also quite attractive. Hikari-san also seems genuinely interested in Naruto-kun as opposed to some sycophant interested in his money. The way he hides it I wonder if she even knows that Naruto-kun **has** any money. He's **very** conservative with his spending. I suppose it comes from years of being poor. Hopefully it won't break out into a catfight. I really don't need that kind of headache this evening.'_

 **Chapter 21**

 **Konoha**

It was Saturday morning and a very grumpy Uzumaki Naruto reported to the Hokage's office with his rough draft of his fuinjutsu book duly in hand. He was in his ANBU Fox gear and was being escorted by his student Gazeru. He had to spend the whole morning going over his notes and rewriting things neatly for his presentation. (So much for sleeping in). Gazeru showing up at his door to escort him was unexpected and for some reason or other Hinata and Maya were less than thrilled about his 'escort.' (They knew exactly who Gazeru was from her body language around their boyfriend).

At any rate, Naruto's goal was to get the notes handed off to Jiji as quickly as possible and _run_ back home to have lunch with Maya-chan and Hinata-chan. Then the three of them were going to a movie come hell or high water!

When they arrived at the Hokage's Office Gazeru knocked and said "ANBU Agents Gazeru and Fox reporting as ordered Hokage-sama." After receiving permission to enter she whispered. "Be _formal_ Fox; this is _very_ important to or village's future development."

Naruto nodded but inside he thought everyone was blowing this completely out of proportion. To Naruto he felt his book was rather mediocre but everyone else was singing praises about it. When he and Gazeru entered they found ANBU Dragon and Senju Tsunade were in the Hokage's office as well. Just as importantly, they were waiting on either side of Hiruzen so it was quite obvious they were going to be examining it too. Naruto fought off the urge to bang his head on the wall as Gazeru closed the door behind them.

Hiruzen said, "Welcome Fox and Gazeru. As this is highly classified I'll activate the silencing seals." He quickly went through the hand signs and activated the seals causing a brief glow on the walls. "It is safe now. Please remove your masks and we-"

"Wait." said Fox. "This soundproof seal isn't sufficient enough for safety." Tsunade raised an eyebrow at her younger cousin as he quickly pulled out a scroll and slapped it on the floor and quietly said, "Disrupt." Four glowing seals quickly revealed themselves on the walls of unknown origins. Each made a loud popping noise as they were disrupted and the seals became visible in their ink forms. Naruto nodded to himself and said, "Surveillance seals." He examined them carefully one by one and said, "I'd estimate this one is Danzo's work from studying his style. Let's find out where they all lead shall we?"

Hiruzen was flabbergasted. "Can you tell who might have been listening in Fox?"

Fox's smiling mask fit Naruto's mood perfectly. "They _still_ are listening. I'll need a good sensor nin with range all over Konoha. I didn't destroy the seals; they are still active but right now it's as if something was set against them so all sounds are muffled. We'll soon find them Hokage-sama; that I promise you."

Ten minutes later a Yamanaka ANBU ninja without a mask arrived along with and ANBU squad and the situation was explained to them. Naruto said, "I'm going to send three chakra pulses through this seal and I want you to see if you can detect them. Unless I miss my guess they will be at the residence of Shimura Danzo. Just tell me when you are ready."

The Yamanaka (he introduced himself as Hiro) raised an eyebrow and then activated his sensory jutsu. "I'm ready ANBU Fox." Naruto nodded and channeled three pulses before the Yamanaka's eyes opened wide. "I have a lock on it Fox. It's due West. If you continue the pulses I can lead my team right to it."

Hiruzen said. "Go Hiro. You and your squad report in by radio when you've located it."

Dragon hummed. "You think this links up to that receiver seal you identified in Danzo's office don't you Fox?"

They could practically see Naruto's eyes glittering behind his mask. "Yes Commander Dragon, that's exactly what I believe."

Twenty minutes later they received confirmation from Yamanaka Hiro. Following the same procedure they traced the second seal. It led back to the Senju Clan Compound to the personal office of Senju Tobirama, the Second Hokage. Hiro and the others found it under a layer of dust with Jiraiya and Mito's help. "That sounds just like my Granduncle." said Tsunade. "He always was just a bit paranoid."

"Tobirama sensei was always a very _vigilant_ leader." said Hiruzen with mirth in his voice. "That seal probably hasn't been used in several decades."

The third seal was simple because Naruto was receiving feedback from it. "It no longer has a counterpart seal to receive. It's either been moved or destroyed somehow." Receiving a nod from Hiruzen Naruto moved to the fourth and final seal. After several attempts Hiro and his squad detected nothing. Naruto said; "The receiver seal has been shielded with additional chakra seals." He narrowed his eyes behind his mask and said, "We'll just see about that..."

Naruto quickly got out a scroll and started rapidly making and unusual seal that didn't look familiar to Hiruzen at all. Tsunade's eyes widened. _'It's just like watching Mito Obaa-sama or Kushina-chan!_ ' she thought in amazement.

Naruto soon said "Seal." quietly and then placed that seal over the listening seal they couldn't track. He contacted Hiro through the radio and said menacingly, "Listen for the screams." A second after one of the houses in the residential district was nearly deafened by a high pitched shriek and Yamanaka Hiro's group and several other ANBU squads quickly converged on the scene.

"We found the seal!" yelled Hiro over the radio. "Please turn this damned noise off Fox! We're going deaf here!" Naruto stopped channeling chakra and the noise ceased immediately. "Thank the gods..." Hiro muttered over the radio.

"What kind of a seal _is_ that Fox?" asked Hiruzen with great interest.

Naruto took the seal down and rolled it up. "It's a modification of an old Uzu seal called 'scream.' It was designed for alarm purposes in case someone invaded your home and it would wake up the whole neighborhood. I just tweaked it so I could transmit it through a chakra burst and it made the noise come out of the receiver seal."

"How long have you known this modified 'scream' seal?" asked Tsunade. "It's amazing that there was a seal in existence just for that purpose."

Naruto kind of shrugged. "I didn't know it Tsunade-sama; I just came up with it."

Everyone in the room's eyes got wide as Tsunade said incredulously, "You just _invented_ it? Right here on the spot?"

Naruto nodded. "Yes, it was just a simple matter of changing the formulas a bit on an existing seal. I really didn't ' _invent_ ' anything."

"It's just like Mito-sama was." said Hiruzen. "She routinely created complex seals and designs and then acted as if it was effortless for her. I didn't realize your mastery was at this level Fox. What level of mastery are you at by Uzu standards in your estimation Fox?"

"I'm only around level eight Hokage-sama." said Naruto rather shyly.

" _Only_ level eight you say?" asked Hiruzen. _'You've got to be kidding me! He's above the level of an Uzu Jonin! He's at least Kushina-chan's level if he hasn't already surpassed her...and he's only fourteen years old. He'll be at Mito-sama's level within a few years if not sooner._ ' The Hokage said seriously, "Your ancestors would be proud of you Fox. I have no doubt in my mind."

Naruto swallowed a lump in his throat. "Thank you Hokage-sama."

"Is this room secure now Fox?" asked the aged Hokage.

Naruto created another seal and within a minute placed it on the floor. He channeled chakra through it and lines and ornate designs went up the walls before they flashed. "The room is fully secured _now_ Hokage-sama." he said.

"Gazeru and Fox, please remove your masks." As they did, Hiruzen said, "I meant what I said Naruto-kun; you ancestors would truly be proud. As for being _only_ level eight; you've already surpassed Jiraiya as this villages greatest seal master."

Hikari was smiling in amazement at Naruto's actions. _'Yes! If that doesn't prove you are the best Naruto-kun; then nothing will_.' she thought as she blushed slightly.

"Both of you take a seat; I'm interested in this book of yours." said the Hokage as he took a more relaxed stance.

Naruto sat down and said, "Thanks Hokage-Jiji." Hikari nearly face faulted as Hiruzen laughed at her expression along with Tsunade's shocked one.

"I guess the time for formalities is over, eh Naruto-kun?" chuckled Hiruzen. "Well, that's fine. I want you to _tell_ me about this book instead of report about it anyway…."

….

Saturday didn't turn out as planned. Naruto was stuck in ANBU duties making a new permanent privacy seal for the Hokage's office and then was involved in the investigation of the receiver seal in the residential district. As it turned out the seal was of Kumo origin and the family that owned the place didn't even know it existed. It seemed the spy that was using it left Konoha about a decade ago….It was just one more reason Dragon wanted to have Naruto start checking the seals around the village for the upcoming conflict. "So much for my plans this weekend…." moaned Naruto.

"Consider this job security Fox." supplied Gazeru helpfully. (She was really enjoying watching Naruto work his magic with seals –plus he was always fun to be around). Naruto just groaned.

The upcoming week would turn out odd for Naruto as well….

 **Wednesday; Fire Country, The Great Shrine of Flame**

It was Wednesday and the Advanced Genin Class was performing their first real mission; they were acting as undercover bodyguards at the Great Shrine of Flame which was about a six mile trip from Konoha. A very high ranking High Priest was there for the Festival of Flame and the genin's job was to keep him out of trouble. Apparently (for some odd reason) there had been some threats against his person at the Fire Capitol the last time he was there though nothing ever surfaced. The males in the Advanced Genin Class were in the small town that surrounded the Shrine dressed as civilians who had come to attend the holy festival. They were under the supervision of Lee and Neji and would form an outer line of defense if necessary.

The girls on the other hand were inside the Shrine dressed as Mikos so they would be able to form an inner line of defense around High Priest Wataru. They were under the supervision of Hikari (who was pulled from ANBU duty for this mission just in case) and Tenten. Hikari's side job was to keep an eye on Yakumo. The Kurama heiress only joined the class Monday and she'd already been thrown into a situation that she probably wasn't prepared for. Uzuki Yūgao and Maito Gai were also there hidden somewhere but the Advanced Genins were pretty much on their own. Yūgao said she and Gai would be monitoring from the shadows but would remain uninvolved.

 _Flashback_ ….

 _On Monday the Hokage was talking with the High Priestess Miwa-sama of the Great Shrine of Flame about the mission parameters. "Hokage-sama, we have no idea why there would be threats against High Priest Wataru-sama. When his predecessor passed away there was a great deal of sadness but I don't think there was a speck of ill will against him in his entire life. As we are concerned for Wataru-sama's safety having a small group of ninjas around just in case would be a great relief."_

 _Hiruzen sighed. "It isn't so much the issue of sending a couple of teams to help Miwa-sama. It's the matter that you need several young kunoichis dressed as Shrine Maidens. We just don't have enough free kunoichis of that age group to pull in the numbers you've requested. They are needed on their own teams they are assigned to." Hiruzen held his hand up to forestall Miwa's arguments before she started up again. "The money isn't an issue Miwa-sama; Konoha has always supported both the Shrine of Flame and the Fire Temple. They are both national treasures of Fire Country. It is rather a lack of manpower or rather, woman power in this case."_

 _The aged Hokage pondered a few moments and then motioned to one of his ANBU. "Boar; retrieve Uzuki Yūgao from her class. I have an idea and I need her input." Boar bowed and vanished in a body flicker. He returned with Yūgao about ten minutes later._

 _"Reporting as ordered Hokage-sama." said Yūgao as she bowed formally._

 _Hiruzen nodded. "I have a mission here that will last Tuesday through Saturday. It is very basic guard duty at the Shrine of Flame that genins can easily accomplish. I'm wondering if your students would be up to the task. I need eight kunoichis of a young age group to impersonate young Mikos hired for the Festival of Flame coming up this weekend. They will double as covert bodyguards for the visiting High Priest who is going to be at the shrine for the festival." He handed the mission parameters over to Yūgao and the purpled haired ANBU sword mistress looked it over carefully._

 _Finally Yūgao asked High Priestess Miwa, "So everyone in the Shrine of Flame is female? Is this a religious doctrine I've never heard of?"_

 _Miwa shook her head 'no.' "It's simply a long standing tradition at our particular shrine Yūgao-san. It's not some sort of nunnery. Most of my followers live in the small town that surrounds the shrine with their husbands and families. The kunoichis would be housed in the shrine dormitories on site of course."_

 _Yūgao nodded. "I believe my students will be up to the task with the possible exception of Yakumo. I can have the new tutor Tenten act in a chunin capacity over three of them but I'll need another girl to watch over the other three."_

 _Hiruzen could read between the lines and knew Yūgao already had someone in mind. "Who would you recommend for that position Uzuki?"_

 _"Gazeru. She already knows my class and they are comfortable around her. She could protect Kurama Yakumo should it become necessary. I could station the boys in the town proper for additional protection. It would be a good learning experience for them all. I believe it could be worked into the schedule despite the missed class time."_

 _"Well, it seems the issue is solved Miwa-sama." said Hiruzen with a smile. "I have eight kunoichi mikos for you and eight additional ninjas that can keep an eye on the town. They are young but you will be in good hands. What do you say?"_

 _Miwa sighed in relief. "I am ever so grateful Hokage-sama. I'll need to inspect the kunoichi's since we have to carry ourselves a certain way in both manners and appearance at the Shrine of Flame."_

 _…._

 _High Priestess Miwa soon inspected the eight young kunoichis and found they were all too alluring for her tastes (Let's face it; kunoichis were **trained** to be that way). At any rate, all of the girls were to wear their hair in conservative ponytails which meant Tenten couldn't wear her hair in her usual buns and Emi had the get rid of her fancy ringlets and get her hair straightened much to her irritation. Hinata was also to wear contacts to hide her Hyūga heritage. All in all Miwa was happy with the six Academy Students plus Tenten and Hikari. The girls underwent basic training of how they were supposed to comport themselves and found it was simple enough…. _

_Flashback end…._

"Alright ladies." said Hikari as she inspected the girls in their dormitory to make sure their assorted weapons were well hidden under their Miko robes. "We're going to have two squads of four. The first will be myself; Yakumo, Emi and Hinata. The second will consist of Tenten, Sakara, Ino and Maya. Any questions before we head out?" Hearing a chorus of 'no's' Hikari said. "Let's get to work then."

 **Meanwhile, out in the village surrounding the shrine** ….

Kiba was observing the girls through binoculars as the kunoichis came out of the miko's quarters they were staying in. He was drooling. "Duhuhuh….Miko outfits are the best!"

"Can you see the youthful flower Sakura-chan?" asked Lee with hearts in his eyes. It was love at first sight for Lee when he met Sakura on Monday. For her part she was terrified.

The dog ninja nodded as he continued to stare through the binoculars. "Sure I can see Sakura but why? I mean there's Emi….and Maya….and Hikari….and Hinata….look at all that bounce…."

"We get the idea!" growled Naruto. "They are women; not pieces of meat!" The idea of Kiba eyeing his girlfriends was pissing Naruto off. He didn't want Kiba gawking at Hikari and Emi either and that pissed him off too.

Shino said, "We shouldn't make our surveillance too obvious. If the townsfolk see you with binoculars up there so conspicuously they are going to get suspicious of our presence."

 **At the other end of the shrine village** ….

Neji, Choji, Shikamaru, Sai were observing the same thing from their vantage point. Neji said, "It looks like they've blended in well enough. Choji, must you continually munch on those chips? The noise is starting to grate on my nerves."

"Sorry but I already ate all the ice cream and muffins." said Choji. "Chips are just noisy I guess. I'll try to crunch quieter."

Sai was about to say something rude about Choji's plumpness but Shikamaru slapped his hand over Sai's mouth and said, "Not one troublesome word out of you Sai." Seeing Sai nod uncomfortably Shikamaru released the pale boy and scooted back to his spot in the shade and started dozing again….

 **Thursday** ….

In a great deal of fanfare High Priest Wataru arrived and the boys were in nearby positions to assure his safety. The bald, elderly priest seemed to be a very outgoing and friendly person and from what the young ninjas could tell he didn't have a care in the world. He did have two Samurai guards but neither was really close enough to protect the High Priest should an assassination attempt take place. Neji was keeping both of the boys squads apprised of the situation with his byakugan in case they had to move in.

Kiba and Naruto were together near the gates as a rear guard. "The old man's a sitting duck!" whispered Kiba. "Any single one of us could take him out without breaking a sweat."

Naruto nodded. "Those Samurai guards should be right there with him and their stances are totally relaxed. This could be bad…."

Neji and Lee were discussing the situation by radio. "The situation is most unyouthful Neji!" said Lee. "The Samurai we've met in our travels were very professional and observant but these two seem to not possess those youthful traits. I think one of them may be sleeping on the job."

"I understand Lee but we have to make do with what we have." said Neji. "Shikamaru already estimated that you and Shino to the left are the most likely to be able to intervene should and attack arise. Sai and Choji would arrive from the right side shortly after you. Stay sharp."

In spite of how tense the eight young ninjas were nothing happened and soon High Priest Wataru-sama was safely inside the Great Shrine of Flame. The boys quietly regrouped and started patrolling in pairs watching out for trouble in the shrine village….

 **Inside the shrine** ….

"I welcome you to the Great Shrine of Flame Wataru-sama. It is good to see you have made it here safely." said High Priestess Miwa in a relieved tone.

The old priest laughed. "The enlightened have no reason to fear Miwa-sama. Still, I am glad to be here. It has been a long trip. It is nice to finally meet you in person. Once I've rested a little bit I'd like to review your followers; they are the future that will lead the younger generations someday."

Miwa nodded. "Of course Waturu-sama. Please enjoy our hospitality."

After dinner the Priestesses were all gathered and High Priest Wataru went around and spoke to them individually. He seemed like a kindly, rather charming old gentlemen until he started picking out the priestess he could feel were 'enlightened.' "Now this is _enlightenment!_ " declared the old priest as he pointed directly at Emi; or rather _Emi's breasts_. If it wasn't for all her kunoichi training she would have broken out in an enormous blush at being singled out like that. Things went predictably downhill from there….It seemed that young, busty women were _very_ enlightened and older and/or less endowed women didn't make the cut.

By the end of the evening most of the priestesses regardless of age (and build) were muttering mutinously among themselves. The kunoichis gathered in their dormitory to have a 'discussion.' "It seems half of us don't _stack up_ girls." grumbled Ino irritably. "The old geezer is _obsessed_ with big racks. I'm not _that_ small. How insulting."

"I'd rather _not_ have been picked!" growled Maya. "After all that eye humping that old lecher was doing I feel like I need a damn pregnancy test!"

"I feel like I'm dirty and need to take a bath." agreed Hinata grumpily.

Hikari sighed. ' _We're protecting a disgusting old pig_.' "Unfortunately due to the High Priest's requests we have to rearrange our teams. Tenten; you, Yakumo, Ino and Sakura will be patrolling the outer areas. I want you and Yakumo to be partners and Ino and Sakura will be partners. The rest of us will be stuck in the inner areas catering to the High Priest so count yourselves lucky."

Seeing the stares from Tenten's team; Emi said, "Besides; it wasn't just us four! He picked out a lot of women besides Hinata, Maya, Hikari and I. It's embarrassing!"

"And all of them _coincidentally_ have big breasts." griped Ino. "Say something Forehead! You got stuck on _Team Molehill_ instead of _Team Mountain_ too."

"Internal dissention isn't going to help us at all girls." said Tenten. "I don't like this blatant sexism either but we have a job to do."

"Right." agreed Hikari. "We have to do the best we can in spite of this obstacle. Now let's try to figure out our patrol routes…."

 **Out in the village** ….

Neji's group was eating at the inn they were staying in listening to several conversations going on around them. Most of the men from outside of town were there to smack around Wataru-sama it seemed. They all were grumbling he was a dirty old man and had been hitting on or making passes at the men's wives, girlfriends, mothers, daughters, sisters, nieces, cousins, etc. The list of offences continued to grow and Neji's entire group had a sinking feeling. After dinner they went up to the room where they were bunking in to discuss this.

"We are faced with an overwhelming number of angry civilian males that seem intent on doing High Priest Wataru harm." said Sai.

Shikamaru nodded. "I'd say that sums it up pretty nicely."

"Hearing some of the stuff the old priest did I don't blame them for being angry." said Choji.

"It's disgusting seeing him abusing his position of authority that way." agreed Neji indignantly. "Nevertheless we are supposed to protect the High Priest."

 **On the opposite side of the village** ….

"It's so unyouthful!" declared Lee. "He could be attempting the very virtue of Sakura-chan and our other youthful comrades as we speak."

"Calm down Lee." said Naruto. "The girls can handle him. What I want to know is how we are going to handle this growing mob."

Shino said, "On the positive side this mob seems to be made up of small groups of angry civilians that are not organized as one group. It's highly unlikely that they are going to attack en masse."

Kiba was rubbing his head. "What I want to know is how he got to be a High Priest if he's such a dirty old man to begin with."

 **Inside the Shrine that evening** ….

Wataru said, "Thank you for helping me get unpack Emi-chan. Such a righteous girl as yourself is _destined_ to go places…."

Emi's skin was crawling as the old man's eyes took a walk all over her body. ' _Hehehe. It's time for old wandering hands Wataru to make his move_.' thought the old lecher as he reached for Emi's firm rear end.

The red haired kunoichi reacted on instinct and quickly lifted the hundred pound trunk all of his belongings were in and set it down on his 'wandering hand.' "So, where would you like for me to put you trunk Wataru-sama?" Emi asked smiling sweetly as she pushed down on the trunk to squash the offending appendage further.

Waturu's hand and libido were being crushed and his eyes were wide with pain. He squeaked out, "Please set it in the corner Emi-chan."

"Will there be anything else before you retire for the evening Wataru-sama?" asked Emi innocently.

"No, no Emi-chan. Thank you for your help and have a good evening." said Wataru in a high pitched voice.

Emi was smiling evilly as she closed the door behind her….

 **Friday morning** ….

Hinata delivered breakfast to the High Priest in his sleeping quarters that morning. Waturu smiled at her lecherously. "Such an _enlightened_ young priestess as yourself could go many places Hinata-chan. For the right _favors_ I could put in a good word for you with the higher ups. What do you say Hinata-chan?" he asked as he reached for her breasts. " _Oooops_ ; my hand slipped." Wataru said with a giggle.

Alas, Wataru was stopped cold before he could make contact by a wall of killing intent so thick that it was like a force field freezing him in place. Hinata's byakugan glare was terrifyingly effective even from behind her brown contact lenses. " _If you lay one dirty finger on me I will remove what makes you a man Wataru-sama_." she said in a tone that would freeze hell. (It seemed Hanako Obaa-chan was rubbing off on her more than she realized). Then Hinata said regally, "Will there be anything else Wataru-sama?" Seeing his pale white face shaking his head 'no' rapidly Hinata said, "Then I'll take my leave. Do enjoy your breakfast _alone_ Wataru-sama."

….

Friday afternoon a young priestess went to Miwa-sama terribly upset about the things High Priest Wataru said to her over lunch. Miwa was outraged and had the girl pulled from her duties.

….

 **Friday Evening** ….

Hikari had been forewarned by Emi, Hinata and High Priestess Miwa-sama about Wataru-sama's atrocious behavior. Deciding she wanted to nip the old man's behavior in the bud she decided to take the role of a clumsy airhead she brought in his dinner. "Hello Waturu-sama! I am Priestess Hikari and I've brought you your dinner."

"That's lovely my dear Hikari-chan." said Wataru. He giggled lecherously. "Have you considered your future as a priestess?" Sadly for Wataru all his efforts seemed to be wasted as the ditzy blonde didn't seem to understand one witty inference or clever innuendo he made and every time he tried to lay a hand on her she would glide out of his way to get something. After a half hour of this bizarre game of cat and mouse and getting nowhere; Wataru thought to himself, ' _By the gods! What is it going to take to get a piece of her hot blonde ass?!_ '

"Would you like some more tea Wataru-sama?" asked Hikari in a spacey tone with an equally flakey smile. ' _I'm nearly at my limit! I **hate** playing stupid and this old geezer is even worse than I imagined!_ ' She started pouring Wataru's tea as he gawked at her breasts as she drew near.

" _Oooops!_ " said Wataru as his hand reached for Hikari's thigh….

" _Oooops!_ " said Hikari as she ' _accidentally_ ' poured boiling tea on the old man's crotch….

Hikari made it back to the dormitory the kunoichis were using with her virtue intact needless to say. The twinkle in her green eyes was telling. It seemed that scalding tea was a real turn off for the old High Priest….

 **Saturday morning** ….

"The festival is this evening and the natives are getting restless!" said Neji over the radio to Tenten.

"It's not much better on this end Neji." answered Tenten. "The old man has made passes at almost every Priestess he can get alone and they are threatening to revolt. Hikari is talking to Miwa-sama about the problem now."

Neji got a shocked tone in his voice and said, "Did he make a pass at Hikari?"

Tenten sighed. "He's made passes at Hikari, Hinata and Emi. Currently Maya is serving him breakfast and he'll probably make a pass at her too."

"He made a pass at Hinata-sama?!" asked Neji with rage in his voice.

"No need to worry Neji." replied Tenten. "He is absolutely terrified of Hinata now. I don't know what was said but he hides if he sees Hinata coming." The mirth in her voice was obvious to Neji over the radio.

"Still….he should be punished." said Neji.

Tenten took a placating tone. "Neji, you and Lee just keep the mobs outside the shrine under control and Hikari and I will try to control the mob of angry priestesses inside the shrine in order. I've got to go. I'll relay your message to Hikari. Tenten out."

"Neji out." acknowledged the male Hyūga in the party.

 **Saturday afternoon** ….

Maya and Emi were taking care of the old priest since he was supposed to give a grand opening speech at the Festival of Flame that evening. He'd made numerous passes at both of them when Maya came up with a devious plan. "It's simple Emi. The old pervert is always drinking water like he's dying of thirst so we put a tiny bit of wine in it. As he gets comfy we add a little more and a little more until the old geezer is completely tanked. He'll make a fool out of himself at the festival and the crowd will demand his dismissal later."

"It sounds like something Naruto-kun would do." said Emi smiling evilly. "It's a lot less destructive than what I had in mind."

Maya raised an eyebrow. "And what might that have been Emi-chan?"

"I wanted to tie him up, stuff a demolition level exploding tag in his shorts with a delayed timer tag and get the hell out of town." said Emi malevolently.

"Too much collateral damage but a good thought." chuckled Maya darkly. "Hikari and Hinata-chan had some interesting ideas too."

"They had ideas too?" Emi's blue green eyes were sparkling with mischief. "Tell me what they were!"

Maya smiled maliciously. "Well, Hikari wanted to burn the old man at the stake since this was the _Festival of **Flame**_. You have to admit it would go with the theme but there would be too many witnesses."

"And Hinata-chan's idea?" asked Emi with glee in her voice.

"Hinata-chan wants to drive tent spikes into the old man's eyeballs with a mallet…. _one agonizing whack at a time_." said Maya in a dark tone.

" _Damn!_ " laughed Emi. "That's so grisly and brutal! I wonder what he did to make the always kind Hinata-chan that angry."

"I don't know." answered Maya. "But I did make her promise to tell me once this mission is over."

….

And so, Maya and Emi slowly got High Priest Wataru more and more inebriated as the afternoon wore on. By the time the festival was ready to begin a six in the evening the old man was completely tanked. The two kunoichis made sure he wasn't so far gone that he couldn't give his speech but aside of that the Honorable Wataru-sama was totally wasted.

Emi and Maya were both smiling with gleaming eyes as the High Priest stumbled up to the podium to give his speech. Wataru suddenly regained his composure and said in a rich voice filled with years of authority, "As the High Priest of Fire Country I am so honored to be opening the _Festival of Flame_ here at the Great Shrine of Flame. In my years of experience rising up through the ranks I have…."

"It seems Wataru-sama is going from memory." said Emi feeling both vexed and disappointed. "If I didn't know the kind of person he was I'd say this speech was _inspiring_. Do you think he was faking us out Maya-chan?"

"No, I don't." said Maya in a calculative tone. "I think he's giving this grand speech as a result of years of conditioned reflex." She picked up a tiny pebble and flicked it into the back of Wataru's bald head using chakra. The old man rubbed his head and blinked for a moment since his thoughts were jarred off course by the tiny impact against his lecherous skull.

The crowd listened in silence as High Priest Wataru regained his bearings and resumed his eloquent speech….

"Opai, _Opai, **Opai!**_ I am the harem king!" yelled the drunken Wataru to the heavens above. "I want all the blessed children with C cups or larger to stand before me and _shake it like you mean it!_ "

Everyone was shocked at the inebriated old man's speech to open the Festival of Flame. His drunken declarations were getting worse and worse by the second. There was a great silence and then a quiet murmuring before High Priestess Miwa stepped in and took action.

Miwa lost it and screamed, "Feel the heaven's wrath you dirty old lecher!" as her fist hit his jaw with a satisfying crunch.

Hikari tried to intervene and said, "Stop Miwa-sama!"

Miwa turned to Hikari and said, "You and your kunoichis have done an admirable job. But now it is completed and that old coot is going to get what he so rightfully deserves! _Get him girls!_ "

Pandemonium ensued as High Priest Wataru received a righteous ass kicking at the hands of the enlightened Priestesses of the Great Shrine of Flame. The amount of sheer feminine fury was staggering as the males in the crowd who had come to beat up the old codger decided it would be best to remain uninvolved. Wataru would wake up from his coma in a body cast at Konoha Hospital about a week later….

On the positive side, no one in Fire Country doubted the righteousness of High Priestess Miwa-sama and her followers and the Festival of Flame was a huge success for them. The bewildered members of the Advanced Genin Class set out for home Sunday morning after receiving great praise from Miwa-sama for their diligent work and a commendation from her to the Hokage.

All in all it had been a very disillusioning first mission….

POSTSCRIPT:

Yes, Waturu's speech was influenced by High School DxD. I've never seen it but between the trailers and previews I've seen I know the main character is some sort of young Jiraiya level pervert. It seems like I recall him saying something to the effect of being a harem king. Anyway, now that our little mission is aside we'll be heading back to Konoha for the Trial of Sasuke. See you next chapter. Blue out. 7/29/15


	22. Chapter 22

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This chapter would have been out a bit sooner but I had to work out some issues with my story **_Naruto: Dragon's Maw_**. Now that it is squared away and done I present to you Chapter 22:

Last time:

 _Miwa lost it and screamed, "Feel the heaven's wrath you dirty old lecher!" as her fist hit his jaw with a satisfying crunch._

 _Hikari tried to intervene and said, "Stop Miwa-sama!"_

 _Miwa turned to Hikari and said, "You and your kunoichis have done an admirable job. But now it is completed and that old coot is going to get what he so rightfully deserves! Get him girls!"_

 _Pandemonium ensued as High Priest Wataru received a righteous ass kicking at the hands of the enlightened Priestesses of the Great Shrine of Flame. The amount of sheer feminine fury was staggering as the males in the crowd who had come to beat up the old codger decided it would be best to remain uninvolved. Wataru would wake up from his coma in a body cast at Konoha Hospital about a week later…._

 _On the positive side, no one in Fire Country doubted the righteousness of High Priestess Miwa-sama and her followers and the Festival of Flame was a huge success for them. The bewildered members of the Advanced Genin Class set out for home Sunday morning after receiving great praise from Miwa-sama for their diligent work and a commendation from her to the Hokage._

 _All in all it had been a very disillusioning first mission…._

 **Chapter 22**

 **The Road to Konoha**

It was morning and the Advanced Genin Class was marching towards Konoha. They were back in their black ANBU combat gear with Hikari in the lead. The group ran into some minor bandits but seeing a bunch of teenagers armed that heavily (and looking rather disgruntled) was enough to make them flee at the sight. Soon Gai and Yūgao appeared and greeted the class. They exchanged greetings and Yūgao informed them they would be heading straight to the Academy despite the fact it was Sunday as there were matters to discuss. Gai on the other hand praised their ' _ever growing flames of youth_ ' that still made most of the class (except his team of course) question Gai's sanity (again).

Yūgao briefly pulled Maya and Emi to the side and said with approval in her tone, "Shame the old man's true nature was exposed due to his _drinking problem_. Very nicely done girls; do make sure some facts never surface about how he got so drunk in your formal reports."

Maya's eyes nearly bulged out and she whispered in a panicked tone, "Are you saying to _lie_ on our reports to the Hokage sensei?!" Emi had an equal look of shock written on her face.

Yūgao smiled and said, "You are _never_ to lie to your superiors - _ever_. Omitting certain unrelated facts is _not_ the same as lying. Do you understand ladies?" Both Emi and Maya quickly answered in the affirmative with a salute and Yūgao took them back to the rest of the group.

Naruto was talking with Hinata. "Shame I didn't know the old man was perving on you girls like that Hinata-chan. I'd have made a multi use shock tag for you all to put in his underwear had I known. A little chakra and….zap!"

Hinata smiled. She'd really been angry but her boyfriend Naruto-kun cheered her up. She giggled picturing the old priest getting electrocuted in her mind while holding on to his groin in agony. "I may have to get one of those tags from you for future use Naruto-kun."

"Well, you seem much happier Hinata-chan." said Maya as she came back over from talking with Yūgao-sensei.

"Naruto-kun had some interesting ideas for dealing with future pervert problems." giggled Hinata. "I'm sure he can invent a tag for us to use in the future Maya-chan. What do you think is going on? I didn't expect Yūgao-sensei to have us attend class today."

Maya shrugged. "Beats me. I really don't know Hinata-chan. I guess we'll find out soon enough."

 **Konoha Ninja Academy**

By mid morning everyone was in the Academy classroom except Hikari who had been released to fill out her report to the Hokage. Yūgao stood up in front of her class. "There are two things we need to accomplish today. The first is to get your written reports filled out for the Hokage. You will submit them to Gai-sensei and myself. Once we've checked them over we will submit them to the Hokage's Office. This is no different from filling out the mission reports to me for your homework assignments. Yakumo, since this is your first time I will help you out."

Yūgao continued. "The second thing is tomorrow will be Uchiha Sasuke's court martial at 08:00. All of you will all be attending it. Report to class here at 07:00 and we will proceed as a group to the Hokage tower. Make sure you are clean for inspection. You were all witnesses to the event that led to this but I sincerely doubt any of you will be called upon to testify with the possible exception of Hinata. The chances of her being called upon are slim as well since the investigation has been completed. The main reason you are attending is so you can see how the military justice system works. It will be valuable to you in your ninja careers down the line. You will be there with the Jonin Council which contains the Clan heads. I expect all of you to be studious and silent. You are there to observe and have no say in the proceedings. Does everyone understand?" receiving a round of affirmatives Yūgao soon had her class working on their reports.

 **Hokage Tower**

It was lunchtime and the Third Hokage was fed up. All the paperwork for Uchiha Sasuke's high profile trial was finished and the mission reports were almost caught up. He thought aloud, "I have more _pressing_ matters to attend to!" Donning his Hokage hat Sarutobi Hiruzen went on an S-class mission that he had to accomplish personally. Informing his secretary he would be out for a few hours he trudged off to face the music….

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Hiruzen was scared. He had stealthily gone to several places having carefully researched his mission parameters. He knocked gently on the door of the Natsume residence and waited. ' _You can do this Hiruzen! It is of **great** importance to the future_.' he thought to himself. Satisfied with his mental pep talk the sixty eight year old Hokage stood at attention as he heard soft footsteps coming towards the door. The door opened gently and he was greeted by Hyūga Natsu.

"Hokage-sama?" asked Natsu a bit shocked at his presence. "I-is there anything I can do for you my Lord?"

Hiruzen relaxed a bit. "There's no cause for alarm Natsu-san. I was wondering if Hyūga Hanako-sama was in the house. I would like to speak with her if she is not too busy."

Natsu looked a bit goggle eyed. "No, she is not in the House Hokage-sama." Hiruzen completely deflated as Natsu motioned to him, "Actually, Hanako-sama is standing right behind you."

Hiruzen's eyes went wide as he whipped around to face Hanako who was standing behind him. She'd been out doing a bit of shopping and saw the Hokage lurking around and decided to sneak up on him. Hanako had a rather wry smirk on her face as she said to Natsu, "Run along Natsu-san, the Hokage and I have matters to discuss."

Natsu bowed and closed the door behind her. "So Hiruzen; what brings your all the way out here with a bouquet of flowers hidden in your robes?"

Cursing the all seeing byakugan silently to himself, Hiruzen bought out a beautiful bouquet he had stealthily procured at the Yamanaka Flower Shop. "These are for you Hanako-chan. Please accept them."

Hanako accepted them and said, "Belladonna Lilies, my favorites." She smelled them and said, "Thank you Hiruzen; I see you've been doing your research."

Seeing her face was hidden slightly behind the flowers so only her eyes could be seen, Hiruzen squirmed a bit. ' _I haven't felt this nervous since I was a teenager! What is wrong with me?_ ' the Hokage screamed in his head.

Hanako's eyes were glimmering with amusement. "Is there anything else Hokage-sama?"

Finally regaining his equilibrium, Hiruzen said, "Hanako-chan, will you please go out to dinner with me tonight?" He was sweating a river.

She closed her eyes for a moment. Opening them she said, "If you had come in person before instead of sending your ANBU in the past I would have accepted your invitation before. You are such a silly old man Hiruzen." She said with humor in her voice.

"Then you'll go out with me?!" asked the Hokage in both shock and hope.

"Yes Hiruzen, I'll go out with you." said Hanako showing her smile to him finally.

….

Hanako entered the Natsume residence a few minutes later holding her bouquet of flowers with a rather content looking smile on her face. She saw Hanabi, Aya and Natsu all standing there. "Can I help you ladies?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Is everything alright Obaa-chan?" asked Hanabi. "You were out there talking to Hokage-sama for a while."

Aya saw the flowers and Hanako's smile. She said, "Did Hokage-sama bring you those flowers Obaa-chan?"

Hanako nodded. "Yes, Hiruzen asked me to join him for a dinner date tonight. It seems I'll have to dress formal since we are going to the Golden Leaf restaurant. I trust you girls can help me pick out some appropriate attire?"

' _Of course!_ " chorused the girls and Natsu much to Hanako's amusement. Their excitement was palpable.

 **The path to the Natsume residence**

Naruto, Hinata and Maya were making their way back to the Natsume Clan home when they saw Hiruzen leaving.

"…." said Maya as she involuntarily shivered.

Naruto looked pale. "Hinata-chan; could you use your byakugan and tell me if we're under a genjutsu? I think Hokage-Jijj is _skipping_ our way with an enormous smile on his face…."

"Please don't make me use my byakugan on that sight Naruto-kun." said Hinata in a pleading voice.

Maya was quietly channeling chakra saying, "Genjutsu kai!" under her breath multiple times as the Hokage came to a halt in front of the three teenagers.

Hiruzen smiled hugely at his surrogate grandson. Placing his hands on Naruto's shoulders he said, "Naruto-kun my boy; you were right. I finally got a date with Hanako-chan! I could just dance a jig!" The old man was obviously over the moon about this.

Suddenly Hiruzen felt a terrifying amount of killing intent coming off the two young kunoichis in training. "You'd better not try anything inappropriate with Hanako Obaa-sama." said Hinata with a byakugan glare that would freeze hell.

Maya's blue eyes were narrowed and hard as steel. "Yes, you better treat Obaa-chan right Hokage-sama. We _will_ find out if you try anything perverse."

Hiruzen thought to himself, ' _Good Lord what glares!_ _It's like they are overprotective parents of a young girl on her first date!_ ' Something told the Hokage that he shouldn't mess with Maya and Hinata even if he _was_ the supreme commander of the village.

Feeling the tension Naruto said, "Hinata-chan, Maya-chan; why don't you head on to the house and see Hanako Obaa-chan? I'll talk with Hokage-Jiji about some house rules okay?"

Both girls nodded before they gave Hiruzen the evil eye once more and then went on to the house. Naruto-said, "Sorry Jiji; Maya-chan and Hinata-chan had to deal with a massive pervert that was older than you on our mission at the Great Shrine of Flame. They are a bit irritable around old men right now."

"I hadn't heard about it." said Hiruzen with a sigh of relief that the girls were gone. "What happened to the pervert?"

Naruto shrugged, "Last I heard the High Priest Wataru was in the hospital after all the priestesses and kunoichis beat him into a coma. It was really awful to watch. The girls stomped a mud hole in his ass and walked it dry." Hiruzen paled. "Anyway, be good to Hanako Obaa-chan and don't stay out too late or your suffering will be legendary." He patted Hiruzen on the shoulder. "I hope you both have a nice time. See you later Jiji."

With that Naruto headed on to the Natsume Clan Home whistling and the slightly shaken Third Hokage went to make dinner reservations….

 **Natsume Clan Residence**

When Naruto came in he saw a flurry of activity amongst the girls. They all seemed to have their bath supplies and were headed to the private Natsume hot springs in their yukatas with Hanako in tow. Seeing Hanako Obaa-chan seemed rather excited as well Naruto wisely stepped out of the way of the stampede. Deciding he would find out what was going on soon enough Naruto went and took a quick shower before her went to work in his fuinjutsu study….

 **Konoha Theatre House**

Jiraiya was grumbling to himself as he haggled with scalpers at the sold out Kabuki Theatre play _The Trials of Tokugawa_. It was a remake of a tragic story that apparently had a happy ending instead of the star crossed lovers dying at the end like in the original. It had swept across the Elemental Nations like wildfire. What did that have to do with Jiraiya who thought Kabuki Theatre was just _wrong_ because even the female roles were played by effeminate male actors? It was all his sensei's fault actually….

 _Flashback…._

 _Jiraiya reported in to the Hokage's Office having been summoned for an emergency mission. He saw Hiruzen staring out the window of his office overlooking Konoha. Hiruzen turned to Jiraiya with steel in his eyes. Jiraiya stood at attention knowing this was The God of Shinobi he was dealing with; not just Sarutobi-sensei. "Reporting as ordered Hokage-sama." said Jiraiya respectfully._

 _Hiruzen said authoritatively, "Jiraiya; I have a mission that only you can accomplish for me. It is of upmost importance and has to be accomplished before five o'clock tonight. It is vital." _

_"You can count on me sensei." said Jiraiya determined. "Tell me what you need done and I'll make it happen."_

 _The Third Hokage nodded as he sat down at his desk. "Jiraiya-kun, your mission is to go down to the Konoha Theatre House and procure me the best balcony seats in the building for the play The Trials of Tokugawa at seven tonight. You cannot fail my student."_

 _Jiraiya face faulted. When he stood back up he asked incredulously, "What the hell?! You can't just go to the ticket booth sensei?! A genin could do that! Your grandson Konohamaru could do that!"_

 _"It's not that simple Jiraiya-kun." said the elderly Sarutobi gravely. "The show is sold out and I need those tickets! You are almost as good at haggling as your wife but she's busy at the hospital. Besides, Tsunade-chan would murder me if I asked her to do it anyway! You are the only one I can count on Jiraiya-kun! You know I've never been good with scalpers! I'm desperate here!" pleaded the Hokage._

 _"Oh good grief sensei!" said Jiraiya. "Why is it so bloody important to get the damn tickets anyway?"_

 _"…." was the Third Hokage's answer._

 _"I'm waiting for an explanation sensei." said the Toad sannin rather irritably._

 _"….Alright; alright! I finally have a date with Hyūga Hanako-chan and I want to take her to a play tonight Jiraiya!" said Hiruzen completely flustered._

 _Jiraiya got a lecherous smile. "Well, why didn't you just say so sensei? It's my duty as a Super-Pervert to help my sensei get his groove on!"_

 _Hiruzen just blushed._

 _Flashback end…._

"My _duty_ as a Super-Pervert….What the hell was I thinking?" muttered Jiraiya to himself. " _Damn_ these tickets are going to be expensive…."

It took an hour and forty five minutes before Jiraiya had the tickets in hand looking a bit nonplussed at the cost. ' _Sarutobi-sensei had better appreciate this….What a mission_ ….'

 **Hokage's Office**

Sarutobi Hiruzen had things set for his date. He had completely blown off his Hokage duties and cancelled the rest of his appointments for the day. He had tickets for the play at six and dinner reservations at the Golden Leaf at eight. He was hoping for a wonderful evening with Hanako-chan. Taking one last look at his picture of a young Hanako-chan in her bikini the Elderly Hokage rushed off to get prepared for tonight starting with a haircut….

 **Konoha Hospital**

Tsunade was taking a break from her rounds and was talking with her husband Jiraiya who dropped in unexpectedly. "So Sarutobi-sensei finally got his dream date huh? Well good for him. I still can't believe he sent you on a _mission_ to buy tickets."

Jiraiya looked a bit haggard. "Getting those tickets for Sensei wasn't easy. "I should have demanded S-class pay for it."

His wife chuckled. "Was it that bad Jiraiya-kun?" Seeing Jiraiya nodding emphatically she laughed and asked, "So what rank did he pay you for?"

Jiraiya's eyes suddenly widened. "Come to think of it he didn't pay me at all! Damn that old man. He owes me an exorbitant fee for those tickets!"

"Well, bother him about it tomorrow." said Tsunade with humor in her voice. "I'm sure his mind was elsewhere. If he actually gets laid tonight ask for A-rank pay."

"Good call Tsunade-chan." agreed Jiraiya. "For what it's worth I'd like for Sarutobi-sensei to have a nice time. Hanako-sama _is_ a beautiful woman even at her age."

Tsunade smiled, "I agree. The two of them do make a good match you know."

 **Sarutobi Clan Compound, 3:30 PM**

"Say again Dad?" asked Sarutobi Asuma with an ornery smile as he handed Hiruzen his clothes.

Hiruzen grit his teeth. "I said I'm going on a _date_ and I wanted to wear my formal Sarutobi clan robes instead of my Hokage robes." said the elder Sarutobi as he was fiddling with his seldom worn formal clan kimono.

Asuma handed Hiruzen his obi. He noted his Father had a haircut and manicure as well. "So who is the lucky lady Dad? She must be something special for you to be going to all this trouble just for a meal."

"We're going to see a play and then go over to the Golden Leaf for dinner and dancing." explained Hiruzen as he imagined slow dancing with Hanako-chan. "As for whom it is; I am escorting Hyūga Hanako-chan and short of an invasion of the village I don't want to be interrupted by _anybody_. I want this to be a perfect romantic date for both of us."

Asuma raised his eyebrows. "Isn't she a little young for you Dad? She can't be older than fifty. Of course, if she's in to older men…."

Hiruzen got a flat look at his son. "Asuma, I am sixty eight and Hanako-chan is sixty two. She fought along with me in the Second Shinobi War."

"She's that old? Damn Dad, she's quite a looker. I'd have never guessed." said Asuma approving of his Father's tastes. "So are you planning to bring her home with you or to a hotel after your date so you can have some privacy?"

Hiruzen got a slight nosebleed at the thought and giggled perversely as he thought of his photo of Hanako-chan in her bikini. ' _Oh the possibilities_ ….' he mentally giggled. Then images of Hinata and Maya's burning eyes flashed into his brain and made him shiver. He took a pontificating tone with his son. "Hanako-chan isn't that kind of woman. She is a Lady and I will treat her as such."

Asuma just waggled his eyebrows suggestively and said, "Well, I won't wait up late for you."

Hiruzen just sighed at his son's antics….

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Naruto was working away in his study. He was going to ask if everything was okay when the girls got out of the hot springs but had been informed by Aya-chan that the ladies were all going to be very busy getting Hanako Obaa-chan ready for her date and _not_ to get in the way. ' _At least they didn't confine me to my room_.' thought the blonde as he put the finishing touches on the counterseal for the Caged Bird Seal he created for Hinata-chan and her family. ' _Done at last. That damned Caged Bird juinjutsu the Hyūga Clan uses is **history**_.' About that time he heard a knock on his door. He opened it and saw Hanabi standing there with stars in her eyes. Smiling, he asked, "What is it Hanabi-chan?"

Hanabi smiled and said, "Naruto nii-san; you have to come see Hanako Obaa-chan! She looks so amazing! We want your approval since you know Hokage-sama's tastes better than we do. That and you're a boy of course." The nine year old eagerly grabbed his hand and dragged him out to the bedroom that Hanako stayed in. Quickly knocking; Hanabi said, "I have Naruto nii-san with me; can I bring him in?" Hearing a chorus of ' _Yes_ ' from the girls Hanabi opened the door while eagerly saying, "Come on Naruto nii-san!"

Naruto came in smiling and saw the girls all surrounding Hanako who had a rather content looking smile on her face. Hinata said, "Naruto-kun; what do you think?" as they stepped aside so he could see Hanako.

Naruto was amazed. Hanako was wearing a dark blue formal kimono with floral prints and the Hyūga Clan crest. She looked absolutely stunning. Her silver hair was up in her traditional ponytail but she had ribbons in her hair that accentuated her beauty. Hanako also was wearing makeup. It was minimalist but it complimented her features perfectly. "Well Naruto-kun; what do you think?" asked Hanako sounding just like her granddaughter.

Naruto said, "Obaa-chan….you look _spectacular!_ Jiji is going to have his mind shut down when he sees you like this!"

Hanako smiled appreciatively. ' _I've still got it_.' she smirked mentally to herself. "I'm glad you approve Naruto-kun. Let's hope Hiruzen likes it too."

"Oh, I guarantee he will!" said Naruto happily. ' _He'd better or else_ ….' thought Naruto darkly. Unaware that Naruto was thinking of cruel punishments for his Jiji if he upset Hanako Obaa-chan; the girls were all very pleased with blonde ninja's enthusiastic approval.

….

At 5:00 PM sharp Hiruzen picked up his lovely date and everyone wished that he and Hanako had a good time…. _with the unspoken threat that they were all going to be **watching** him like hawks_. The rather nervous Hokage bid everyone farewell and Hanako did her best to hide her amusement at her date's frightened expression….

….

 **After dinner in Hinata's room**

Hinata was very pent up worrying about her Obaa-chan and the trial the next day when she invited Naruto to come to her room a talk. The talking soon turned to kissing and then making out on the bed. Eventually Hinata was against the wall. Once the silencing seals were up Naruto was kissing her neck and mouth passionately. Her yukata was wide open and revealed Hinata only had on a pair of panties underneath. Both ninjas in training were totally enraptured in a lust filled haze and Naruto started suckling on her breasts each in turn which made her gasp and sigh in pleasure. Finally Hinata grabbed his face and pulled him up for a soul searing kiss.

She purred seductively, "Naruto-kun, do you want to be my _good_ boy?" as they stared deeply into each other's lust filled eyes. Seeing him nod eagerly Hinata said, "Get on your knees Naruto-kun." Naruto acquiesced to her hands pushing him down gently to his knees. She hooked her thumbs under the elastic of her soaking wet panties and slowly, erotically pulled them down…. "Eat me Naruto-kun…." she said in a lust filled voice.

Naruto was wide eyed but once his mind clicked with what she wanted he wasted no time in tasting his indigo haired girlfriend for the first time. In his hazy mind he'd do anything she asked at this point. ' _So this is what my Hinata-chan tastes like_ ….' he thought to himself as he gripped her hips to hold her steady against the wall. Hinata was completely overwhelmed by the sensations and fiercely gripped Naruto's spiky blond hair to pull him in for more as she panted and moaned his name while grinding herself into him hard.

" _Oh gods!_ " she ground out through gritted teeth as her lover continued to devour her. When she finally reached her orgasm she cried out and her knees nearly gave out. Hinata was holding herself up by resting her back up against the wall. She was panting heavily and when she looked down she saw Naruto smiling up at her with hungry, lustful eyes.

Naruto gave her a long lick that made Hinata's entire body shiver. He said huskily, "Mmmm….I want to taste _more_ of my Hinata-chan…."

He was about to dive in again when she said, "Bed…. _please_." Obliging her Naruto carried her over to the bed and laid her down before he continued pleasuring her and loving all the magical sounds she made, both soft and loud. He brought her to her climax twice more before she was totally spent. When he finally laid down on top of her she tongue kissed him passionately and said, "I love you Naruto-kun. _I like my taste in your hot mouth_." Her whole body was flushed as they continued to kiss each other at a more gentle and romantic pace. Hinata finally sighed contentedly and said, "Will you stay here and cuddle with me tonight Naruto-kun? I want to sleep in your arms."

Naruto smiled and said, "Anything you want Hinata-chan. I love you." He got up and turned off the light. Lying back down he spooned her with his body under the sheets and Hinata was soon comfortably sleeping in what seemed like an instant to him. He thought to himself as he dozed off, ' _I wonder if Maya-chan will taste just as good….I'll find out soon and please her too….My girlfriends are so amazing_ …."

Both of them slept peacefully dreaming of each other that night….

 **Hours later, Front Porch**

As it turned out both Hanako and Hiruzen had a wonderful time and when he dropped her off, the Hokage was rewarded with a short but very fiery kiss on the lips that nearly curled his toes. When Sarutobi Hiruzen made it back home around ten thirty he was basically walking on air….it seemed both Grandmother and granddaughter had a way with their men.

Hanako came in and found Hanabi, Aya and Natsu waiting for her. ' _I guess Hinata-chan, Maya-chan and Naruto-kun have all settled in for the night. Then again, they are used to getting up at 3:30 in the morning_.' Smiling, Hanako said, "Well, it looks like you three have been waiting up for me."

Aya said, "Hanako Obaa-chan, did you have a nice time? Maya nee-can was worried Hokage-sama might do something perverse with you."

"Hinata nee-chan said the same thing." chimed in Hanabi. "Is everything okay?"

Hanako chuckled. "None of you have to worry; we had a very nice time and Hiruzen was a perfect gentleman. We decided to go out again next weekend."

"Really? That's wonderful Hanako-sama!" said Natsu with enthusiasm.

"So tell us about your date Obaa-chan!" said Aya excitedly.

Hanako found them all to be completely wound up so she decided to indulge the girls. (It wasn't like anything x-rated was going on….yet). "Well, we went to see the Kabuki play _The Trials of Tokugawa_ at the theatre house…."

 **Sarutobi Clan Compound**

Asuma was up enjoying a cigarette outside when he saw his Father gliding back through the compound gates. The jonin hadn't seen his Father looking so full of life since before his Mother Biwako died. Grinning to himself he thought, ' _Guess I'll have to tease the old man a bit before I turn in for the night_ ….' As it turned out he thoroughly enjoyed hearing his Father talking about what a wonderful time he had with Hanako-chan. It was like listening to a teenager the way Hiruzen went on. When Asuma went to bed around midnight he felt closer to his Father than he had in years. ' _I think that Hanako-sama and retiring again from the Hokage's position are the best things that have happened to Dad in years. I kind of want to meet Hanako-sama now_.' Smiling, Asuma turned out his light to dream about a certain jonin named Kurenai….

 **Natsume Clan Home 3:00 AM**

Maya woke up automatically at 3:00 for the Advanced Genin Class and hopped out of bed tiredly. After yawning and having a good stretch she heard talking out in the hall and poked her head out the door. She saw Naruto leaving Hinata's room and the two of them kissing passionately before Naruto slipped out of Hinata's arms. ' _I wonder if they went all the way_ …." Maya thought deviously. As Naruto went back towards his room Maya whispered, "Naruto-kun…."

Naruto jumped a little before he came over to Maya and hugged her. "Good morning Maya-chan." he whispered to her.

Maya smiled and said, "Good morning Naruto-kun. Did you pop Hinata-chan's cherry last night to relieve her stress?"

Naruto kissed Maya's ear as he moved his hands down to knead Maya's firm rear end. She gasped as he whispered, "No but it was a close thing. I'd like to stay with you tonight and make you smile if you'll let me."

She blushed in the low light and then smiled before she put a love bite on Naruto's neck. "I think that can be arranged lover." she said excitedly.

"Good." said the blonde. "I love you Maya-chan. I need to take a shower….unless you want to join me."

Maya pulled back and gave Naruto a savage smile. "I love you Naruto-kun. You run along. We'll play together tonight. I need to get all the details from Hinata-chan." smacking Naruto's rear lightly Maya shot back into her room to shower.

It wasn't until all three teens were inhaling their breakfasts at 3:30 that they all remembered they didn't have to go in till 7:00 and then go to see Sasuke at his god damned trial….

"….Well, this sucks." said Maya "We've got three hours and nothing to do but wait around for that trial."

Hinata nodded in agreement. "It is irritating. On the positive side at least we didn't have our weapons on yet Maya-chan."

Naruto took a sip of his juice. "Well, we're supposed to be neat and clean so a morning spar is out. I guess Obaa-chan must have slept in. What do you girls think? "

Maya smiled brightly with a gleam in her eye. "I think this is an ideal time for you to do the dishes Naruto-kun. Come on Hinata-chan; we ladies have much to discuss." With that, Maya eagerly dragged a startled Hinata away to interrogate her about what she and Naruto did the previous night.

"So not fair leaving me with all the dishes." thought Naruto aloud. He was left to his own devices while his two girlfriends talked and giggled about things behind closed doors and a silencing seal.

 **Konoha Council Chambers 7:45 AM**

The Advanced Genin class was ushered in by Uzuki Yūgao and Maito Gai. Gai's team was also present so they would understand court proceedings too. They marched in silence and were seated. The Jonin Council and prosecuting lawyers (all hired by the Hyūga Clan) were all already present and talking in soft tones. The head of the prosecution was Hyūga Bengoshi who was both a veteran shinobi and lawyer. He was talking to Hiashi quietly when they both saw Hinata come in looking very professional and intimidating in her ANBU style uniform.

Bengoshi was taken a little aback. ' _Hiashi-sama said our Byakugan Hime Hinata-sama had changed but I had no idea. She looks absolutely fearsome. What happened to the shy and passive girl I knew?_ ' He walked over and saw Hinata was sitting and talking in low tones with the Natsume heiress and the Isuzu heiress as well. On her other side was the heir of Uzu. (The matter of Naruto's Royalty was relayed to all present in the court to prevent it from being a distraction if brought up). Bengoshi stood before Hinata and bowed deeply. "I bid you greetings Hinata-hime. I assure you that the Uchiha will be brought to justice for his criminal acts against you, I-"

Bengoshi was silenced by Hinata's byakugan glare and subtle killing intent that Hanako had taught her to use. Hinata asked frostily, "Still trying to get the Hyūga Elders out of their jail cells for their _criminal acts against me_ Bengoshi-san?"

The Hyūga lawyer gulped heavily. "No Hinata-hime, I would not sully my hands or the Hyūga Clan any further with their ilk. I just wanted to assure you that-"

"I don't need or care for your assurances Bengoshi." said Hinata coldly. "Just perform the task that Hiashi-sama is paying you to do. I'm sure it can't be _too_ difficult given all the evidence against the Uchiha. Go do your job and leave me out of it. I want nothing to do with you. I'm just an observer anyway."

Bengoshi saw that Hinata's attitude was cold as liquid nitrogen and it frightened him. ' _I need to get back into her good graces for the time she becomes Hyūga Clan Head. I have no doubt she'll succeed Hiashi-sama now_.' "I will do my best Hinata-hime. If you'll please excuse me." He rapidly retreated back across the chamber to his desk sweating. ' _It is as Hiashi-sama says. She's just like her Grandmother Hanako-sama. I dare not cross her_.'

Hiashi saw his daughter from across the chamber and saw her cold reception to Bengoshi. It was with a mixture of both sadness and great pride that he looked at her now. Hinata had become a fearsome and beautiful kunoichi without his help and would make a fine successor to him someday. '…. ** _If_** _I can convince her to ever come back. Word has slowly leaked throughout the clan of her abuse and many are very angry at the main house. All those guilty are in jail but I can't fault the branch house for being outraged. I wish she would come and talk to me but she's quite busy according to Kaa-san_.'

The defense lawyers came in along with Sasuke who was in a wheel chair. He looked like hell still. They sat down with their backs facing the Advanced Genin Class and opposite the prosecuting lawyers and the Jonin Council. Minutes later the Hokage entered looking deadly serious. Flanking him were Jiraiya and ANBU Commander Dragon. "All rise for Hokage-sama." said the bailiff. After everyone stood (including Sasuke with some help) they were told to be seated.

The bailiff announced, "Today's trial is to judge Uchiha Sasuke for the accused crimes of Attempted murder against his fellow Konoha comrade Hyūga Hinata, Repeated insubordination, Directly disobeying the orders of a superior officer and Endangering others through illegal use of weapons in a spar."

"The Chief Prosecutor is Hyūga Bengoshi and the Head of the Defense is Bōgyo Hideo."

"Presiding over this trial are The Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen-sama, Jiraiya-sama of the sannin and ANBU Commander Dragon."

Receiving a nod from the Hokage the bailiff said, "Let the trial of the accused Uchiha Sasuke now begin!"

POSTSCRIPT:

Okay, this wasn't meant to be a cliffhanger. I originally intended to have Sasuke's trial be over and done in this chapter but things just didn't go as planned and I ran out of room. The way this trial will go is going to be a mishmash of court styles to suit the storyline so don't expect it to follow a particular set of rules. (My degree is in Military History, not Law). Anyway, if all goes according to plan the Advanced Genin Class will be graduated and given Team assignments by chapter 25 (give or take a chapter). As for the next chapter; what will Old one nut/Sasuke's final fate be? See you next time. Blue out. 8/22/15


	23. Chapter 23

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Okay, finally we are at Sasuke's trial! Mind you, I've never written a full trial or court drama before so this is definitely a new one for me. Let's see how it goes. Here's chapter 23:

Last time:

 _The defense lawyers came in along with Sasuke who was in a wheel chair. He looked like hell still. They sat down with their backs facing the Advanced Genin Class and opposite the prosecuting lawyers and the Jonin Council. Minutes later the Hokage entered looking deadly serious. Flanking him were Jiraiya and ANBU Commander Dragon. "All rise for Hokage-sama." said the bailiff. After everyone stood (including Sasuke with some help) they were told to be seated._

 _The bailiff announced, "Today's trial is to judge Uchiha Sasuke for the accused crimes of Attempted murder against his fellow Konoha comrade Hyūga Hinata, Repeated insubordination, Directly disobeying the orders of a superior officer and Endangering others through illegal use of weapons in a spar."_

 _"The Chief Prosecutor is Hyūga Bengoshi and the Head of the Defense is Bōgyo Hideo."_

 _"Presiding over this trial are The Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen-sama, Jiraiya-sama of the sannin and ANBU Commander Dragon."_

 _Receiving a nod from the Hokage the bailiff said, "Let the trial of the accused Uchiha Sasuke now begin!"_

 **Chapter 23**

 **Konoha Council Chambers**

It was thirty minutes into the trial and Naruto was already bored. The opening statements translated into something like this inside Naruto's head:

 _Chief Prosecutor Hyūga Bengoshi: "Uchiha Sasuke is the root of all evil and should be sentenced to death multiple times, brought back and killed again in the most painful ways possible. No punishment inflicted by mere mortals is harsh enough and we know the gods themselves cry out for justice! The Uchiha is his brother Itachi all over again and must be purged from our peaceful society for the good of all humanity and civilization lest he harm any more pure and innocent maidens like the great Hinata-hime….blah, blah, blah…."_

 _Head of Defense Bōgyo Hideo: "Uchiha Sasuke is a pure and innocent lamb and this is all a huge misunderstanding. Such an angelic and saintly young man should never be punished for a simple mistake made due to his youth. This trial should be thrown out of court on the grounds that Sasuke-kun has suffered far more than he ever should have already due to his terrible injuries inflicted upon him by the fearsome kunoichi Hyūga Hinata who obviously had something against poor, guiltless Sasuke-kun….whine, whine whine…."_

….

Uzuki Yūgao was called to the stand to relay precisely what had happened and did so in a very straightforward and factual manner. Bengoshi asked her, "In your opinion as an experienced member of ANBU was it not obvious to you that the Uchiha was indeed planning to murder the Heiress of the Hyūga Clan all along?"

Yūgao cocked an eyebrow. "I do not believe it was premeditated. I do believe he intended to harm her as much as he could because he held a grudge against her due to losing a previous spar. I believe his thoughts turned murderous in the heat of the spar and he would have tried to kill her had Hinata not managed to counter him."

Bengoshi asked, "Was the Uchiha not showing signs of combativeness earlier in the day previous to the spar?"

"He was." replied Yūgao curtly.

"Did the Uchiha not say, and I quote, ' _I'll_ _ **butcher**_ _that pretty face of yours!_ ' to Hinata-sama?" asked Bengoshi.

"Yes, he did. I myself submitted that in my report." said Yūgao.

Bengoshi nodded sagely. "Was it not _obvious_ the Uchiha was crazed and murderous by that point?"

"Objection!" yelled Hideo. "The prosecution is leading the witness. She is not qualified to diagnose the mental state of the accused!"

Hiruzen sighed, "The defense is correct, strike that question. Please continue the questioning prosecutor."

Bengoshi was a bit miffed but said, "One final question Uzuki-san; without outside interference do you believe the Uchiha would have indeed murdered Hinata-sama if she had not defended herself?"

"Yes I do." answered Yūgao.

"Thank you Uzuki-san." said Bengoshi. He then returned to his seat.

Bōgyo Hideo came up to question Yūgao next. "I have never been a ninja myself but I've read about something called a 'battle high' that overtakes a ninja in the heat of combat often leading to poor judgment during action. Uzuki-san; as an experienced member of our elite ANBU, do you not believe that it was possible that it was simply 'battle high' and that Sasuke-kun in a rare instance simply was caught up in the heat of combat?"

Yūgao looked at the man dubiously for a moment and said, " _Battle high_ is a berserker state that some ninjas have experienced in wartime as a result of prolonged, mass battles. A case has not been seen since the last war to my knowledge. The concept of Uchiha getting battle high in a simple spar is absolutely ridiculous."

Seeing that avenue of argument was shut down; Bōgyo changed gears. "But surely you agree Sasuke-kun could have simply made a mistake and didn't truly intend to kill Hyūga-san? After all, her retaliation was absolutely brutal and unnecessary. Look at the poor boy."

"I directly ordered Uchiha to stop and he continued to attack against my orders." said Yūgao. "A ninja is trained to _always_ obey their superiors. For him to have disobeyed a direct order and continued to attack with weapons in a taijutsu only spar there is no doubt in my mind he was dead set on killing Hyūga Hinata."

Bōgyo asked, "And what of your opinion of Hyūga-san's retaliation? Do you not believe it was excessive?"

"I do not." said Yūgao. "Hinata was already injured with a shuriken in her shoulder and was defending against someone intending to kill her. She could not afford to handle him in any other way. To try to be gentle with him simply would have been suicide."

"No further questions." said Bōgyo. Seeing Yūgao was firmly set against Sasuke; Bōgyo Hideo ended his line of queries to prevent further damage to his client.

When Bōgyo sat back down beside Sasuke the Uchiha growled, "Uzuki has been completely biased against me from the very moment I met her. She even removed the class ranking system so I wouldn't have the 'Rookie of the Year' title. It's obvious she was lying."

As Sasuke's voice carried across the silent court room Bōgyo simply said, "Please be silent Uchiha-sama! You aren't helping matters any. What if someone heard you?!" _Too bad everyone already did_ ….

….

Shikamaru heard everything that Sasuke said. He thought to himself, ' _Troublesome. That moronic Uchiha is undermining his case and doesn't even seem to realize we all can hear him. What a fool_.'

Sakura was sitting a row up from Shikamaru thinking to herself. ' _What did I ever see in him? Sasuke attacked and tried to kill Hinata and now he's in total denial. All Yūgao sensei did was state the facts. Even without the questioning it's obvious he's guilty. Is Sasuke's ego that huge? He isn't even repentant. This is going to end badly for him_ ….'

Inside Maya's head was a Chibi Maya pummeling the hell out of a punching bag using advanced Natsume style moves. Suddenly the bag groaned loudly and said " _I'm the great Uchiha-sama. You have to go out on a date with me Maya-chan!"_ Chibi Maya unzipped the top of the punching bag showing the bloated, deformed face of Chibi Sasuke. " _Still trying to get me to date you one nut? I guess I'll just have to beat you some more!_ " Chibi Maya cackled evilly before she zipped up the bag again before slugging it twice as hard where Sasuke's groin should be for good measure….

….

Several character witnesses were brought forward that were Sasuke's former instructors. They all believed Sasuke was a good student but none of them would dispute Yūgao's claims. Umino Iruka was there but interestingly enough Bōgyo Hideo never called upon him.

The next character witness was Yamanaka Inoichi. Ino had wondered why her Father wasn't present in the Jonin Council and now she knew why….

Hyūga Bengoshi stepped forward and said, "Jonin Yamanaka Inoichi; as you are an expert in both psychology and the esteemed Yamanaka mind walking techniques, could you tell us your findings?"

Inoichi took a deep breath. "My findings are that Uchiha Sasuke should have been pulled from the ninja program years ago when his family was killed. Given the right therapy he could have been a productive member of our village as a civilian. Unfortunately he is a very unstable and potentially violent individual. It is better that this was discovered now than if he had graduated. He is a danger to himself and those around him and potentially could have led his genin team to their deaths."

" _That's a lie!_ " screamed Sasuke at the top of his lungs. "You are against me just like Uzuki and the rest Yamanaka!"

Bōgyo was wide eyed and trying to calm Sasuke down. "Please be quiet Uchiha-sama! You are making matters worse!"

"I will not be quiet damn it!" hollered the Uchiha.

" _The accused will be_ _ **silent!**_ " boomed the Hokage. "One more outburst like that and the rest of this case will be held while you are in a cell Uchiha!"

Uchiha Sasuke was sweating in fear from the Hokage's killing intent and snapped his jaw shut.

Bengoshi hid his smile but the amusement was evident in his byakugan eyes. ' _I have you now you little bastard!_ ' he thought triumphantly. Bengoshi saw Hiashi nod slightly in approval but when he looked over at Hinata her face and eyes were unreadable. ' _It seems Hinata-hime is still not pleased_ ….' he thought dourly as he looked at the Byakugan Princess. ' _She probably won't be until the case is closed. I still need to do my best_.'

"The prosecution may continue." said the Hokage authoritatively.

Bengoshi bowed. "As you wish Hokage-sama." Turning back to Inoichi; Bengoshi said, "Have you found any motives regarding the Uchiha's attempt on Hinata-sama's life?"

"It is a complex issue that will take time to explain." said Inoichi. "Due to doctor-patient confidentiality I cannot reveal my findings without direct orders from Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen motioned for him to continue. "Tell us your findings but only those pertaining to this case Inoichi."

Inoichi nodded. "Uchiha Sasuke's motive to harm Hyūga Hinata revolves mainly around his fixations on Natsume Maya and Uzumaki Naruto. He desires to have Natsume Maya and Tomoe Hikari to be his wife and mistress respectively. Both of them are close friends with Uzumaki Naruto and Sasuke believes that by defeating Naruto he will win their affections."

Sasuke was seething. Even _he_ didn't know what Inoichi had seen inside his head. The only reason he didn't start yelling again was a sharp glance from the Hokage.

"How does this relate to Hinata-sama, Yamanaka-san?" asked Bengoshi pleasantly.

"Let me explain. Sasuke has both an inferiority and superiority complex towards Uzumaki Naruto." said Inoichi. "Previously Sasuke completely dominated Naruto in spars and everything else but when Naruto caught up and surpassed him in some of these areas Sasuke became obsessed with defeating Naruto. Naruto's recently discovered Royal Lineage made Sasuke even more jealous and Sasuke was convinced that Naruto was an obstacle in his life that had to be removed by whatever means possible which included hurting Naruto's close friends such as Hyūga Hinata."

Everyone murmured and a few gasps were heard. But the Hokage called things back to order before he said, "Continue Inoichi."

Inoichi said, "Sasuke was of the firm belief that by seriously harming the Hyūga Heiress that he would in fact harm Uzumaki Naruto enough that he would prove his worth to both Tomoe Hikari and the Natsume Heiress. His obsession with proving himself to those two kunoichis and defeating Naruto turned him murderous. He is a very disturbed young man."

….

A Chibi Angel Hinata was sitting on Hinata's right shoulder while a Chibi Devil Hinata was perched on her left. " _Oh, that poor Uchiha!_ " whined Chibi Devil Hinata sarcastically as she took a puff of her cigar. " _To think poor, innocent Sasuke-chan had to try to murder us in self defense! My heart weeps for his pathetic plight. To think he did it all in the name of love for Maya-chan. He's a tragic victim. I think he should be rewarded for his selfless act of_ _ **love!**_ "

Chibi Angel Hinata started making barfing sounds and pulled out a joint. After lighting it up and taking a good drag she said, " _We should have completely castrated the motherfucker entirely so he would well and truly be the pussy he's acting like! God damn him!_ " Hinata and Chibi Devil Hinata stared at her with wide eyes of shock. " _What the hell are you two staring at?_ " said Chibi Angel Hinata. " _You both know it's all true!_ " All three Hinatas started nodding in agreement….

Naruto was staring at Sasuke with a glare. ' _So he thinks he can have Maya-chan and Hikari-chan to himself and sees me as an obstacle –so he decides to hurt Hinata-chan?! I so want to get him alone for ten minutes and saw his head off to mount on a pike. Nah, I'll burn him at the stake. Or maybe I should throw him in a pit of hungry jackals. Then again I could drop him in a vat of acid_ ….'

Ino was sitting their doing her best to contain her emotions. ' _What Daddy just said has me too shocked for words. Sasuke was jealous that Naruto is a prince and tried to kill Hinata just to hurt Naruto because he knows they are close friends. –And somehow in his twisted little mind he's convinced himself that action would win Maya's affections?! On top of that he plans to pick up Hikari on the side to be his mistress too as a result? That is so fucked up!_ '

Shino was watching quietly as the destruction bug he sent to his Father Aburame Shibi come back and land on his finger. ' _Father seems to be in agreement with me; it is only a matter of time before the Uchiha acts out and is hauled out in chains_ ….'

….

Bōgyo had the unenviable job of trying to deal with some of the most damning testimony he'd ever heard in a court case. The Yamanaka Clan was renowned for their expertise and Yamanaka Inoichi was the _Clan Head_ no less. Questioning his judgment would not only make the defense seem foolish but it would be considered insulting. He watched as Hyūga Bengoshi sat down smugly and thought of what he should do next. There had to be some way to at least lesson the damage….

"Does the defense have any questions?" asked the bailiff for the second time.

Bōgyo quickly hopped up. ' _Should I plea for temporary insanity?_ ' He came over to Inoichi and said, "Yamanaka Inoichi, you claimed that young Sasuke-kun is very disturbed. Would you say that the horrific childhood trauma that he suffered when his family was heartlessly murdered led to this?"

Inoichi nodded. "It is a safe assessment to say that if those events never occurred this most likely would not have happened."

"Would you agree that because Sasuke-kun is _disturbed_ as you put it that he could be rehabilitated at home rather than punished for his actions?" asked Bōgyo.

Inoichi shook his head. "Sadly that is not the case. Sasuke was not only well aware of his actions but having years of ninja training he is simply too dangerous to rehabilitate without restricting his movements. Also, even if he were a civilian he would be jailed for attempted murder. It will take years to sort the boy out and undo the psychological damage Itachi did to him."

" ** _Damn you!_** _You'll pay for this conspiracy against me Yamanaka!_ " screeched Sasuke as he staggered up from his wheelchair.

The Hokage made a hand motion and several ANBU appeared. Hiruzen said, "Remove Uchiha Sasuke from these proceeding and into a security cell." The ANBU quickly vanished with Sasuke leaving his wheelchair behind. Sarutobi made several ANBU hand signs and then said, "We will have a recess and reconvene in two hours. Nothing that happened in this room will be spoken of outside it."

Yūgao ushered her students out and suggested they get a bite to eat. It had been four long and tedious hours and they were all looking edgy –not to mention Choji and Emi more than once appeared to be eyeing other people in the room as if _they_ were food. Figuring a cannibal holocaust could be prevented Yūgao handed them enough money to feed their Akimichi appetites. She said, "You two go and feed your faces. It's obvious you are absolutely starving."

"Thank you Yūgao-sensei!" chorused the cousins as they vanished in a cloud of dust towards the Akimichi Barbeque Restaurant.

As Yūgao wiped the sweat of nervousness from her brow Akimichi Choza came up and handed her a huge wad of ryo bills. "You're a good soul Uzuki Yūgao. Thanks for helping the kids. If you'll excuse me, I'm a bit famished myself." He then vanished in a body flicker.

Yūgao sweat dropped at the antics of the pleasingly plump Akimichi clan. ' _I still wonder how Emi maintains her figure. Damn that girl can eat_.'

 **Ichiraku's Ramen**

Naruto, Maya and Hinata were at Naruto's favorite restaurant eating quietly. They all made small talk but were very disturbed by Sasuke's pretzel logic that directly involved the three of them. They all wanted to discuss it but couldn't. That's when the fourth person directly involved in the mess arrived, Tomoe Hikari. She greeted them in a friendly tone but seemed a bit bothered herself. "Hello Naruto-kun, Maya, Hinata. May I join you for lunch?"

"Pull up a seat." said Maya.

Hikari sat down and said quietly. "Naruto-kun, you are to send a shadow clone back to the courtroom with Hinata and Maya once we have finished eating. There is ANBU work to do. Yūgao-sempai has already been informed."

"My specialty is required?" asked Naruto under his breath.

Hikari nodded. "Sloth could normally handle it but this is a special case." Naruto nodded glumly.

After they finished eating Naruto made a clone and said, "See you later Maya-chan, Hinata-chan." They both waved silently and the original Naruto vanished with Hikari in a body flicker.

 **ANBU Headquarters**

Sloth was waiting when he saw Gazeru and Fox appear. Mouse was waiting there as well. He nodded in respect and held up the normal gray flak jacket and arm guards that ANBU wore fitted out for Fox. "You'll need these for this mission Fox-sensei. Commander Dragon says from now on whether you are on ANBU duty or teaching us you are to wear those so you can blend in and not be singled out as different from other ANBU."

Fox shrugged. "Okay I guess…." He swapped his gear and sealed up his black gear in a scroll.

Gazeru said, "You look great Fox sensei!"

"It does suit you better." agreed Mouse.

Fox smiled behind his mask. "I'm surprised Dragon authorized this."

Nodding, Sloth said, "As far as we're concerned you're already one of us."

Naruto felt warm inside. Other than Hikari he didn't know them very well but it was a very welcome feeling. Fox cracked his knuckles. "So what is it you all need me to do? I heard it was a special case."

Sloth led them into a chamber with a large table that had restraints on it like you would expect for torture. He replied, "By orders of the Third Hokage you are to seal Uchiha Sasuke's chakra and his doujutsu even though it is inactive. We are to assist you. Both Mouse and I can already seal chakra but Hokage-sama said he wants you to seal it in such a way that even Jiraiya-sama can't unseal it."

Naruto said, "I see." After thinking for a few moments he said, "I need to look up something in my study for this. I know just the seal to do the job."

 **Natsume Clan Residence**

The four ANBU appeared at the Natsume residence and Naruto removed his mask out of sight. Leading the other three up to the front of the house he saw Natsu activating the cleaning seals on the porch (it was much easier than sweeping). She looked up and said "Naruto-san and….ANBU? Welcome."

"I just need to take care of a couple of things in my study." said Naruto. "These three ANBU are my guests."

"Please go right in." said Natsu as she opened the door for them.

Inside the three ANBU saw Hanabi come trotting up. Hikari wanted to say hello but she had to act as if she'd never been here before. Hanabi asked Naruto, "You didn't get in trouble did you Naruto-niisan? And why are you wearing gray instead of black? Wait, they caught you impersonating a real ANBU didn't they Nii-san?"

The ANBU were all trying to stifle their laughter as Naruto deflated. "Everyone, this is Hyūga Hanabi-chan who is like a little sister to me."

Mouse chuckled, "It's nice to meet you Hanabi-chan. I'm Mouse, this is Gazeru and this is Sloth. Naruto is helping us. That's why he's wearing gray."

Hanabi cocked her head to the side. "Well, you must need help with fuinjutsu then."

"Why would you say that?" asked Sloth.

Hanabi smiled. "Because Naruto nii-san is a freakin' fuinjutsu genius!"

Gazeru started laughing. "That he is Hanabi-chan."

Naruto put his hand on Habi's head and ruffled her hair. We're going to be in the study Hanabi-chan. Please tell Hanako Obaa-chan we're here though I'm sure she already knows."

"Okay!" exclaimed Hanabi before she dashed off.

The four slipped into Naruto's spacious office and Naruto went over to his bookshelves after he activated the silencing seals. "It safe to talk now." said Naruto. "The room is fully secured."

Mouse and Sloth were both gawking in wonder at the floor to ceiling shelves lined with fuinjutsu books. Gazeru had gushed about how amazing this office was but seeing it was an entirely different matter…."Naruto-sensei….Are _all_ of these books on fuinjutsu?" asked Mouse in awe.

"Every last one of them." answered Naruto. He ran his finger down a particular row and said, "Here we go." He pulled out a blue tome and started thumbing for the page he was looking for.

Gazeru looked around and said, "I don't remember those red ones from before Naruto-sensei."

"Good eye." complimented Naruto. "Tsunade-sama gave those to me. They belonged to her Grandmother Uzumaki Mito-sama who was the first Hokage's wife. I've been reading them in my spare time. Mito-sama was quite brilliant. If you channel a tiny bit of chakra into the book there are copious notes in chakra ink that appear in the margins."

Sloth reached for a book but couldn't touch it. There was a barrier in his way. "What the hell?" he said.

Naruto grumbled, "If you want a book _ask_ for it Sloth and I'll get it. Feel lucky I had the shock barrier off or you'd be in the Emergency Room at the Hospital."

Sloth gulped. "Can I see that book sensei?" he asked pointing towards some navy blue ones with gold lettering.

Grabbing Volume One, Naruto said, "Here you go Sloth, be cautious with it." Sloth took it carefully.

"Naruto-sensei, can I see one of the books of Mito-sama?" asked Gazeru. Naruto could basically _see_ the puppy dog eyes behind the mask.

"Just use a minimum amount of chakra to see the notes Gazeru." instructed Naruto as he gently handed one to her. Gazeru started looking excitedly and channeled a tiny bit of chakra to look at the notes. Naruto looked over at Mouse that was shuffling her feet nervously. "I'm sure you want one too Mouse, which one?"

"Gazeru told me you had some Uzu books that were unbelievable. Can I please see one of those?"

Naruto nodded and grabbed a green book with the Uzumaki seal on the binding. "Here you go Mouse, these are antiques so be very careful." Mouse accepted the book with great reverence.

Naruto was soon looking through the book he'd had before everyone started oohing and aahing over his collection. Mouse was staring with swirls in her eyes (behind her mask) and Gazeru was dazzled by Mito-sama's perfect calligraphy that looked almost identical to Naruto's.

"Naruto-sensei, her hand writing and yours are so much alike!" said Gazeru. "The styles of the lettering are unmistakable."

"I'm sure she practiced her calligraphy as much or more than I do Gazeru." said Naruto as he continued to read. "An accomplished seal master always has to practice just as I'm having you all do." ' _Here it is!_ ' thought Naruto as he got to a particular passage.

Naruto soon finished reviewing the seal and quietly closed his book before putting it back on the shelf in its place. He was about to tell everyone it was time to go when Sloth blurted out, "Naruto-sensei, the description of this seal is amazing! It has so many capabilities and is so flexible with just little tweaks. I'd love to learn it someday."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Which one is it Sloth?" he asked. That particular set of books wasn't _that_ exciting as far as Naruto was concerned. Sloth turned the book around and pointed to a particular one. "You've seen that one already Sloth. It's an advanced eight point seal like I used at the Kurama Manor on Yakumo; remember?" ' _I could do those when I was twelve_.' thought Naruto.

Sloth looked shocked behind his mask and it translated into his body language. "That's the one you used there? But this says it's primarily for large area restraints like a trap on a battlefield."

"I tweaked it a bit Sloth." said Naruto nonchalantly. "A seal master is only limited by their imagination. There is no formal set of seals that can't be modified. We need to go, Sasuke-chan awaits." After prying the books from the hands of his students and putting them back Naruto dragged them away from his office and basically ordered them to head out. After bidding Natsu goodbye the group of four went back to ANBU Headquarters.

 **Konoha Council Chambers**

The trial was continuing and the whole Advanced Genin Class was bored to tears be now. As far as they were concerned Inoichi's testimony had sealed the deal and Bōgyo was just wasting everyone's time trying to gain sympathy and support for Sasuke.

Kiba thought to himself, ' _The Uchiha is a total psycho. To think all those years he was my classmate and he was totally insane! Thank the gods Hinata was able to protect herself. If they don't put him to death I hope they lock him up and throw away the key._ '

Emi was frowning as she thought about what had been revealed. ' _I hope they draw and quarter him! What he did to Hinata-chan was bad enough but after learning the convoluted reasoning behind it I'm just sick_.'

Chibi Angel Hinata had a good buzz going after polishing off her second joint. " _I tell you; the fucker is going down. I'm going to laugh my ass off at his suffering. I hope they lock him up until he's a hundred years old_."

' _Are you sure you're the angelic side of my personality?_ ' thought/asked Hinata.

" _Oh fuck yeah_." replied the stoned Chibi Angel Hinata. " _She's the bad one_." she said motioning over to Chibi Devil Hinata.

Chibi Devil Hinata smiled. " _What can I say?_ " she said as she tapped the ashes off the end of her cigar. " _I just wish I could be there to see the look on Sasuke-chan's pathetic little face when he hears the sentencing. Maybe they'll drag his hopeless ass in here and we can enjoy the show while his whole world view implodes around him. That sixty four palms smack down was beautiful! His tears are all I need in payment to know we've done a good job Hinata-chan!_ "

Hinata just sweat dropped. ' _Maybe I just don't have a good side, one is a swearing stoner and the other is a sadist_ ….'

 **ANBU Headquarters**

Sasuke was in his cell sitting against the wall when four ANBU came in. Sloth announced, "Uchiha Sasuke, by orders of the Third Hokage your chakra and your Sharingan are to be sealed immediately. Take him to the sealing room."

The Last Uchiha cried out " ** _NO!_** " and started to struggle but the four ANBU easily overpowered him and dragged him from his cell. He tried to fight them the whole way down the hall but was completely outclassed.

After Sasuke was roughly slammed upon the table ANBU Fox said, "Strip him so I can apply the seals."

Sasuke felt his body being exposed as his clothing was rapidly stripped off of him and started thrashing about wildly "No, _No, NO!_ I won't let you do this! I have to avenge my-" He was silenced as ANBU Fox slapped a seal tag on his forehead that said 'restrain' on it.

"That will shut you up." said Fox. They finished stripping Sasuke and Fox said, "Flip him onto his stomach; well start with the back." Sasuke was soon lying on his front spread eagle on the table.

Sasuke hadn't felt so helpless since Itachi confronted him after he found his family dead. ' _This can't be happening! This CAN'T be happening!_ ' he thought as tears rolled out of his eyes and down his face. Sasuke felt the caress of a brush applying ice cold ink to his skin. It was as if a thousand tiny needles were prickling his skin wherever the ink was applied. It started in the center of his back and the brush danced across his spine. '…. _no, no, no_ ….' he mentally cried. After that the brush danced over his left side and then down his right side, up his arms and down his legs.

A few seconds later he heard Fox say, "Put a restraint in his mouth so he can't bite his tongue off. Then chain him down so I can activate this." Sasuke helplessly felt himself get strapped down tightly so he was stretched to his limit. His head was roughly pulled up and a block was jammed in his mouth. Through teary eyes he thought he saw a glint of green inside the eyeholes of Gazeru's mask. Fox's voice said from behind him, "Everybody ready? Seal!"

Sasuke's entire body constricted in pure agony as an inhuman scream was ripped from his very soul. Every restraint was strained to the maximum as the blood vessels broke in Sasuke's face from the sheer intensity of the scream. His body bowed and a minute later it stopped. Had the gods been merciful Sasuke would have blacked out from the pain. Alas, they were not….he heard Fox's voice say coldly, "Unstrap him and flip him over on his back spread eagle again; we're half way done…."

 **Konoha Council Chambers**

Sarutobi Hiruzen said, "Has the jury reached a decision?"

"We find the accused guilty on all counts Hokage-sama." replied Nara Shikaku.

Sarutobi nodded.

Hyūga Bengoshi looked triumphant.

Bōgyo Hideo simply lowered his head. The defense had failed utterly at every turn and the Uchiha brat had no one to blame but himself for his stupid actions over a girl that didn't even like him.

"The Tribunal has come to the following decision." stated the Third Hokage authoritatively. "Sasuke Uchiha's sentence for his crimes against the kunoichi Hyūga Hinata and the Village of Konoha are as follows:"

"Uchiha Sasuke will have both his chakra and his doujutsu sealed for the rest of his life."

"Uchiha Sasuke will be in solitary confinement for both his safety and that of others for the next twenty years. Assuming he is considered psychologically rehabilitated by then to function safely in society he will then be eligible to be paroled."

"The Entire Uchiha Estate and properties worth two hundred and fifty million ryo will be awarded to Hyūga Hinata under the management of her legal guardian Hyūga Hanako until she reaches legal adulthood."

"Any motions to repopulate the Uchiha Clan will be _strictly_ at the discretion of the current Hokage and will be handled _only_ through artificial insemination with females judged appropriate by the Hokage and committee that the Hokage appoints for this task."

"There will be no appeals as this is a matter of Konoha Military jurisdiction under the Konoha Charter as signed by the First Hokage and the predecessor of the current Daimyō of the Land of Fire when this Village was founded."

"This ends the proceedings and this court case is closed. A public announcement will be made this evening at 5:00 PM and all present are to remain silent until then."

"This court is adjourned."

 **ANBU Headquarters**

Sasuke's couldn't move, his entire body was so exhausted that he was physically unable to lift a finger. The first seal on his back had been living hell but the second seal on his front that included around his eyes was infinitely worse. Sasuke couldn't believe that he was still alive having gone through that much pain. Truthfully he wished he wasn't. He couldn't feel any _notion_ of the chakra in his body now. It was as if his soul had been sucked out. He vaguely registered ANBU Fox's voice say, "We're done. Let's take him back to his cell."

The Last Uchiha's body was limp as a rag doll when they dropped him roughly on his cot. ANBU Sloth threw a blanket over his naked body. "Wouldn't want you to freeze to death Uchiha. When you wake up tomorrow they'll probably have your sentence for you. Sleep well Uchiha- _sama_."

Uchiha Sasuke was in hell….

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, I kind of burned the midnight oil to get this out since the last chapter inadvertently ended up as a cliffhanger. I tried to work in a tiny bit of humor but for the most part the chapter turned out rather dark. Sasuke has been knocked off his pedestal of sainthood and Hinata has become independently wealthy. What will the public reaction be to the outcome of trial? What will Sasuke's reaction be to the news? What will Chibi Angel and Devil Hinata's reaction be and why do they both smoke considering Hinata is decidedly a non-smoker? Even the author isn't sure about the last one….See you next chapter. Blue out. 8/23/15


	24. Chapter 24

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Thanks everyone for their reviews and continued support. In this chapter and the next we'll be wrapping several things up and finally having the Advanced Genin Class Graduate. After that we'll start with Naruto's first mission with his new team. Here's chapter 24:

Last time:

 **ANBU Headquarters**

 _Sasuke's couldn't move, his entire body was so exhausted that he was physically unable to lift a finger. The first seal on his back had been living hell but the second seal on his front that included around his eyes was infinitely worse. Sasuke couldn't believe that he was still alive having gone through that much pain. Truthfully he wished he wasn't. He couldn't feel any notion of the chakra in his body now. It was as if his soul had been sucked out. He vaguely registered ANBU Fox's voice say, "We're done. Let's take him back to his cell."_

 _The Last Uchiha's body was limp as a rag doll when they dropped him roughly on his cot. ANBU Sloth threw a blanket over his naked body. "Wouldn't want you to freeze to death Uchiha. When you wake up tomorrow they'll probably have your sentence for you. Sleep well Uchiha-_ _sama_ _."_

 _Uchiha Sasuke was in hell…._

 **Chapter 24**

 **Konoha Council Chambers**

It was around 3:30 PM when the court was adjourned. Hyuga Bengoshi reminded Hinata of a peacock as he strutted up to her and bowed deeply with a superior grin on his face. "Hinata-hime, you've been awarded with all of the Uchiha's lands and properties. I will make sure it is properly put into your accounts with Hiashi-sama. I'm sure we can arrange for you to tour your new possessions as soon as possible. It is my deepest pleasure to serve you Hinata-hime." he said smiling in triumph.

Hinata didn't like this man at all and she liked him even less now that he was trying to suck up to her. As Hiashi walked up she narrowed her eyes at the lawyer and said to him, "Do you need extra help patting yourself on the back Bengoshi-san? _Any idiot_ could have put the Uchiha away between Inoichi-san's testimony and the Uchiha's own stupidity. _You weren't even necessary for that_. Don't think it's not painfully obvious that you are trying to ingratiate yourself to me with this trial. You've done what you were paid to do by Hiashi-sama. Don't act as if you've done _me_ any favors."

Bengoshi was gaping like a fish. He couldn't believe he hadn't completely won the girl over with this. The now pale faced lawyer said "B-but Hinata-hime-"

Hinata fixed him with a byakugan glare that made him shiver. " _Hokage-sama_ was the one who awarded those lands and properties to me and _you_ didn't have any more say in it than the _Uchiha_ did. _I_ will talk to the Hokage's Office when I wish to asses those lands. Your further involvement is not wanted or needed other than to finish the paperwork for Hiashi-sama. Leave me out of it until it is finalized for me to review and sign –and I _will_ review it carefully as I don't hold a fraction of the trust in you the Clan Head seems to. Good day." After that she stood up and left the stunned lawyer and her Father behind without another word.

Hiashi thought, ' _Well, so much for inviting my daughter to dinner. Bengoshi certainly spoiled her mood._ _She read him like an open book. He was foolish trying to take all the credit in this case and underestimated her intelligence. As the Clan Heiress she's well educated in the shinobi laws. I think Bengoshi just ruined any chances he had of making reparations with her. When he tried to defend the Elders in court after they abused Hinata-chan he made a huge enemy out of her_.' Hiashi said, "Let's go Bengoshi, I'm afraid you've made a big mistake with Hinata-chan today. She isn't a naïve child one can manipulate any longer."

Bengoshi lowered his head. ' _How am I going to fix this? By defending the_ _ **former**_ _Clan Head and his accomplices in court I've made an enemy of the_ _ **future**_ _Clan Head. This is bad. Hinata-hime could ruin me as it is and I don't know if Hiashi-sama would intervene on my behalf_.' "Of course Hiashi-sama, let me just gather the last of my things." He said with false bravado. As far as Bengoshi was concerned the future didn't look too bright….

 **Hashirama Lane….**

Hinata was steamed as they walked away from the Hokage Tower and it was obvious. Maya said, "You really hate that lawyer Bengoshi-san don't you Hinata-chan?"

The Hyūga Heiress nodded. "That two faced weasel tried to defend those that were responsible for abusing me and threatening Hanabi-chan. Now he's trying to worm his way back into my good graces. He always was a yes man to the bastards of the Hyūga Elder Council." Hinata looked calculating for a moment. "Now that I think about it I believe some monetary and property reparations among other things should be awarded to me from those old wretches."

"One thing at a time Hinata-chan." said Naruto's shadow clone. "I think you need to cool off a little bit and then talk to Obaa-chan. She'll know the right course to take."

Maya nodded in agreement. "Naruto-kun's right Hinata-chan. You need to blow off some steam first. This day has been really tedious and exhausting. I'll take twelve hour academy days anytime over an eight hour day of court cases."

About that time they saw several reporters calling " _Hinata-sama!_ " that were headed their way like a flock of hungry vultures.

The girls were stunned but Naruto's clone steered them into an alleyway and quickly led them straight up a wall to the rooftop. "Looks like we're going to be travelling by rooftop ladies. As much as I like leading people on a good chase I think we need to get you two home so you can have a nice soak in the hot springs and relax."

Listening to the paparazzi chatter on the street below about the court case and where Hinata-sama could have gone both girls kissed the clone's cheeks and then the three went at ninja speeds back to the Natsume Clan Home.

 **ANBU Headquarters**

Naruto was sitting there in the classroom he taught his fuinjutsu class in with Hikari. They both had their masks off and Naruto looked rather pale. He said quietly, "Damn. As much as I hate Sasuke putting him through that when he was defenseless and all was hard. He deserved it but I still feel guilty."

"Naruto-kun, you had orders and had to carry them out." said Hikari sympathetically. "When we are on duty we eventually learn to turn our emotions off when we have to do something unsavory. You did well and handled yourself professionally. If you had _enjoyed_ doing it that's what would worry me. It just shows you are a good person."

Naruto stood up and scratched his neck but still had a sad look in his eyes. Hikari closed the gap between them and gave him a deep, passionate kiss. He was stunned and reciprocated a second before he separated from her gently. He saw her green eyes full of love. "Come home with me Naruto-kun; let me take all your pain away. I'll take good care of you I promise."

She saw the total confusion in his eyes as he said, "Hikari-chan? I-I don't know what to say…."

She hugged him and rested her head on his chest. Looking up into his blue eyes she said, "Naruto-kun, I _really_ like you. I may even love you; I don't know yet….I've been on many seduction missions because of my looks and had to have sex but I've never been with someone I _wanted_ to be with. I _want_ to be with you. I know a lot of techniques. I promise I'll please you…."

Naruto wanted to go with Hikari for comfort but he immediately thought of Maya and Hinata. After focusing his thoughts he said, "Hikari-chan, I am in a very complicated situation. I really like you." ' _The girls are going to kill me for this_ ….' "Will you come out to the Natsume Clan Home with me? I need Maya-chan and Hinata-chan to help me explain…."

Hikari looked in his eyes and so no deception but she was really confused. "Just tell me what's going on and how they are involved. I know they both like you as well just like Emi does.

"Emi-chan likes me?" asked a shocked Naruto.

' _Is he that dense about her?_ ' thought Hikari with a sweat drop. "Ummm….Yes; all she did was talk about you during our mission at the Great Shrine of Flame…. _More importantly_ what is it you need to explain?"

"Well, you know I'm a Prince right?" asked Naruto.

"Yesss…." she replied. ' _If he tells me he can't date a commoner like me I'll be forced to murder him whether I love him or not_.'

Naruto blushed slightly. "You probably won't like this but since I'm the last male heir of the Uzumaki Royal Line…."

Hikari's eyes were wide. "Yesss…?" ' _Gods; I'm going to have to kill the first man I've ever truly fallen for! Why me?!_ '

"….I have to practice polygamy." finished Naruto.

Hikari's brain took a few moments to reboot. "….Ummm….what?" she asked intelligently.

Naruto sighed. "I have to take more than one wife to rebuild my clan Hikari-chan. You would have to share me. Hinata-chan and Maya-chan are my girlfriends and I love them both very much. If you want to be my girlfriend then you would be sharing me with them."

"Oh; that was….unexpected." said Hikari. "So it's got nothing to do with me not being of noble blood?"

Naruto shook his 'no' head rapidly. "What are you talking about Hikari-chan? You're a smart and strong kunoichi plus you are beautiful. I'd be honored to have you as my girlfriend but as I said things are really complicated."

Hikari's heart sang when he complimented her but at the same time she was a bit shocked. "Naruto-kun, I want to be with you but this is a lot to take in. I'm going to have to think about it. I really had no idea…."

Naruto hugged her gently. "Take all the time you need Hikari-chan. We'll need to talk with Maya-chan and Hinata-chan before we can make a decision. I can't have my future brides hating each other." He gave her a gentle, sweet kiss. "I want you to be happy Hikari-chan; whether it's with me or someone else. I'd better head home; my shadow clone just dispersed and it looks like the court case is over. Will I see you tomorrow?" he asked hopefully.

Hikari nodded. "Yes, I'll see you tomorrow in fuinjutsu class Naruto-kun and we'll talk more afterwards. I need to think a while." Hikari waved goodbye and smiled weakly before she vanished in a body flicker. She had a lot to think about and didn't know how to feel at this point….

Naruto was sweating. ' _Gods, the girls are going to kill me when I tell them Hikari-chan likes me. I really like Hikari-chan….And then there's Emi-chan too! I had no idea about that either. What am I going to do? Maybe I should ask Hanako Obaa-chan for advice_.' With those troubled thoughts in mind Naruto changed into his black gear and roof hopped his way home.

 **Hyūga Compound**

When the Third Hokage made the public announcement about the Uchiha's trial and its results many people were stunned but since Sasuke had lost most of his public support (with a little help from the Hyūga's propaganda machine) it wasn't considered a bad thing at all. Many were celebrating that justice was served and the Curse of the Uchiha Clan was gone for good. The Hyūga's as a group were thrilled and many wished Hinata-sama was there to celebrate (in a dignified manner) with them at the Hyūga Compound. Not only had their heiress received appropriate reparations but the long rivalry between the Uchihas and the Hyūgas was decisively over in the Hyūga's favor thanks to Hinata-sama.

Hiashi for his part was relieved that the Hyūga Clan was happy and united about _anything_. The news of Hinata's abuse had caused a great deal of unrest and animosity in the clan and Uchiha Sasuke's conviction had at least taken their minds off of that. What the Clan Head wanted was for his daughters and his Mother to come home where he could truly make it up to them. Hiashi was originally planning to treat Hinata to a nice dinner as her hostility towards him seemed to have cooled off a bit but her interactions with Bengoshi proved that she was still boiling under the surface. He heard a knock at his office door and bade them to come in.

It was Hyūga Kō, Hinata's former guardian. "Hiashi-sama, may I have a moment of your time?"

Hiashi nodded. "You may enter Kō, please be seated and I will be right with you." After Hiashi finished up some paperwork he set it aside and turned his attention to Kō. "What can I do for you this evening Kō?"

Kō said, "I was wondering if you could tell me if Hinata-sama is in good health since you must have seen her at the trial. I failed her utterly as a guardian and I will forever be shamed but I still truly care about her welfare."

Hiashi sighed. Kō had been inconsolable over what had happened to Hinata and even though Hiashi didn't believe it was entirely deserved; Hinata would probably never forgive Kō over what happened. "Hinata is in better health than I have ever seen her. To be honest she seems to have become the spitting image of my Mother Hanako-sama in spirit. Hinata-chan is both a fearsome and beautiful young kunoichi. I am very proud of her."

"Is she any closer to moving home?" asked Kō. "The Hyūga Clan very much misses their heiress."

The Clan Head replied, "I had planned to talk to her this very evening about the possibility but our head lawyer Hyūga Bengoshi soured her mood a great deal after the trial so I was unable to speak with her."

Kō lowered his head sadly. "If only I hadn't failed her."

"I am more to blame than you are Kō." said Hiashi. "If I hadn't been so inattentive towards my precious heirs we would not be in this mess. I do not blame you Kō."

"I wish I felt the same Hiashi-sama. I am just thankful Hinata-sama is in good health now." said Kō. The two men talked a little while longer before Kō bid Hiashi a good evening.

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Naruto slipped in quietly and found out that Maya-chan and Hinata-chan were soaking in the family hot springs from Natsu. Feeling a little relieved he went to talk to Hanako Obaa-chan about Hikari-chan. Knocking on Hanako's door he heard her say, "Come in Naruto-kun." and he entered and activated the silencing seals.

"I need your advice Obaa-chan." he said with worry in his voice. Seeing her motion for him to sit down with her Naruto sat and said, "Obaa-chan, I found out today that Tomoe Hikari-chan likes me and wants to be my girlfriend. I explained the whole polygamy thing to her so she could think about it for awhile but I'm worried about Hinata-chan and Maya-chan's reactions. What am I going to tell them? I really like Hikari-chan but I don't know how to break the news that another girl likes me….and she told me about another girl that likes me!"

Hanako got a look of sympathy on her face. ' _The boy is going to have a meltdown at this rate. How can he be so dense and naïve? On the other hand, it's much better than him being some kind of Lothario that sleeps around with every woman he can_.' "Naruto-kun, the girls already know that Tomoe Hikari likes you. I presume the other girl is Isuzu Emi?"

Naruto's eyes got huge. "How did you _know_ Obaa-chan? Even _I_ didn't know. Is it Yamanaka technique?"

The dumbfounded look on Naruto's face made Hanako want to smile but she kept herself under control as it wouldn't help matters any. "Naruto-kun; Maya-chan and Hinata-chan told me about Isuzu Emi a long time ago. I didn't read your mind."

"Then Hinata-chan and Maya-chan already knew _all_ of this?" asked Naruto.

Hanako nodded. "Yes, the two of them already know that those girls like you but it sounds like Hikari-san must have confessed to you and that you like her back. You'll need to explain that to Hinata-chan and Maya-chan and see if they are willing to accept Hikari-san. You are within your rights to date whoever you want but I know you would never want to hurt either Hinata-chan or Maya-chan. You also should try to avoid a civil war within your future family. A divided house will surely fall you know."

"What do you think I should do then Obaa-chan?" questioned the blonde.

"My advice would be to talk to the girls and keep your lines of communication open." said Hanako calmly. "Your situation is rather unique so there aren't a lot of guidelines. Most nobles with harems take wives for political reasons and not love or affection. I'm glad you aren't thinking that way. Sit down with Hinata-chan and Maya-chan and be honest with them. It may be a bumpy ride but things will work out Naruto-kun."

Hanako was surprised when Naruto gave her a hug. "Thank you Obaa-chan. That helps me more than you know."

Smiling, Hanako gently returned Naruto's hug. Patting his back she said, "It's all right Naruto-kun. Your Obaa-chan is happy to help you."

Naruto decided that with all the stress of the trial it probably wouldn't be a wise idea to bring Hikari-chan up to the girls that evening.

Maybe he could tell them about the Caged Bird counterseal instead. He was sure that would make them happier; especially Hinata-chan….

….

 ** _Natsume Clan Home_**

 _Hinata and Maya were in Naruto's study looking over Naruto's latest masterpiece; the counterseal to the Caged Bird Seal. Hinata was overjoyed and her irritation with Bengoshi was washed away. She kissed Naruto joyously and said, "Naruto-kun; do you know what this means?!" Hinata's eyes turned more devious and maniacal than Naruto or Maya had ever even imagined possible. "It means we need to sneak into the Hyūga Compound, kidnap Neji nii-san, remove his Caged Bird Seal and make him swear off his ridiculous obsession with fate_ _forever! __Bwahahaha!_ _"_

 _For their part, Maya and Naruto were holding tightly on to each other in fear…._

 ** _Hyūga Compound_**

 _That evening Neji was pondering what he was fated to have for dinner. '_ _Today was exhausting sitting in that courtroom. The Uchiha got what he deserved but he is criminally insane anyway. It just proves we Hyūgas have been better all along. And seeing that pompous ass Bengoshi-san put in his place by Hinata-sama was certainly worthwhile. Tenten-chan said that we should go out to celebrate Hinata-sama becoming rich but she vanished before we could talk to her. Tenten-chan seemed a bit disappointed about it but fate moves in strange ways_ _.' Neji was so deep in thought about fate that he didn't notice Hinata's smiling, ghostly apparition appear behind him and render him unconscious in the silence._

 _Angelnata was sitting on Hinata's right shoulder in a white armored metal bikini toting a war hammer. "_ _Oh yeah! We're the motherfuckin' princess of juken! Neji nii-san never knew what hit him. We're sooo going to smack the fate right out of him now!_ _" Angelnata took a good drag on her joint to celebrate._

 _Devilnata was in her skin tight red and black cat suit on Hinata's left shoulder blowing smoke rings from her cigar while brandishing a serrated scythe and said, "_ _Hell yeah! After we free him from the caged bird seal we'll tie him up nice and tight and drop him off at Tenten's place. You know by the look in her eye she's __**fated**_ _to tap a piece of Neji nii-san's ass. They'll both wake up happier once she's done with him. I just love a happy ending where two young people_ _ **totally**_ _lose their innocence_ _. " _

_All three Hinata's nodded decisively in unison and Hinata tossed the unconscious Neji over her shoulder and zipped out of the compound without a soul being any the wiser…._

….

 **Natsume Clan Home**

….Hinata woke up wide eyed with a start and wondered if she'd been drinking. "Was that a dream?!" she thought aloud. Naruto-kun had told her and Maya-chan about the counterseal but she was shocked and appalled she'd dreamed such a crazy thing to do to her cousin. Smelling her drinking glass Hinata was relieved that it was just water and not alcohol…. _'I'll think about the counterseal tomorrow. We will have to be subtle with it_.' After a few more minutes Hinata dropped back off to sleep peacefully….

….

 **Maya's room**

Naruto woke up slightly before 3:00 AM with his face snuggled into Maya's amazing bosom. He was incredibly relaxed and had his arms around her waist. ' _I never imagined that the number 69 would impact my life so much_ ….' he thought as the images of Maya-chan smiling as she gave him his first fellatio drifted into his mind's eye. He'd returned the favor with interest but when Maya straddled him in the 69 position and they both began to pleasure each other at once it was almost too much to handle….and Maya making a show of swallowing his essence for him afterwards nearly made him faint….

Naruto and Maya had settled into a lover's embrace afterwards even though it took all their willpower not to go all the way. Somewhere in the night they'd awakened and sleepily pleasured each other once more before Maya pulled his face deep into her breasts and put them in the position they were in know. ' _I love my Maya-chan. She tastes every bit as good as my Hinata-chan_ ….' he thought dreamily. Naruto decided to wake up his silver haired angel by suckling on her breasts but then the damned alarm went off and Maya woke up with a feminine moan.

"Mmmm….Naruto-kun." said Maya sleepily as she snuggled further into his embrace. "I don't want to get up."

Naruto looked up and saw Maya's tousled, bed head hair and a sultry look in her eyes. He gave her a gentle kiss and said, "Good morning Maya-chan. I love you."

She smiled and pulled him in for another kiss. Things were starting to get heated when Hinata knocked on the door. "Get up guys; it's already 3:20!" The two lovers separated in a bit of shock before they rushed off to do their morning rituals. It was a close thing scarfing down their breakfasts and running at ninja speeds to the Academy over the rooftops but by some miracle they made it in on time.

 **Konoha Ninja Academy**

When the three dashed into the classroom they were surprised to find Umino Iruka their instead of their sensei Yūgao. Gai-sensei wasn't there and his team wasn't either. Iruka looked rather exhausted. Yawning, Iruka said, "Good morning class. I'm here to inform you there has been a change of plans. Your sensei Uzuki Yūgao is at the hospital watching over her boyfriend Gekko Hayate. He collapsed last night do to breathing problems and is being operated on. Let's all hope he is alright."

' _Neko nee-chan_ ….' thought Naruto.

The entire class murmured amongst themselves and were very concerned for their sensei. Though Yūgao never really said much about her personal life they all knew she and her boyfriend lived together and were very much in love.

Iruka said, "For the next two days you will be doing survival training at training Ground 44, otherwise known as the Forest of Death. Naruto, Yūgao-sensei left a note for you. You are strictly forbidden to unseal a mansion or other impossible items that can make this survival exercise seem like a vacation. Follow me and we'll head out there."

 **Training Ground 44**

Iruka quietly led the class out to training area 44 where several jonins including Hatake Kakashi and Mitarashi Anko were there by a campfire in the pre-dawn darkness. Anko stood before the class and said, "Well, it's a bright and cheery morning _ANBU Brats_. I have a list here of the teams you'll be separated into for this exercise. This is Training ground 44. It is fenced off because the area is so dangerous. It is round and about 12 and 1/2 miles in diameter. There are 44 gates which I have the keys for. Your job is to simply travel to the tower in the center of the area within 48 hours. At that time the tower will open and you can enter and relax. Simple right?"

"What are we going to do about food?" asked Choji in a panic. (He only had so many bags of chips he could haul). Emi nodded along in agreement.

"Nature will provide kiddies." said Anko. "Just remember the food out in the forest is just as likely to eat you too and some of it is poisonous. Otherwise, it's nothing but a massive buffet waiting for you!"

 _Nobody felt better after that explanation_ ….

Soon they were divided up into teams and each team was provided with a map of the terrain. Naruto was delighted that his Team was made up of Maya, Hinata and himself. They were standing at gate 22 waiting for permission to enter. They were being watched by a one eyed jonin who introduced himself as Hatake Kakashi. He said, "Alright you three. We'll be concealed but we jonins will be checking in on you from time to time to make sure you don't die. Concentrate on keeping yourselves alive. If one of you does die we'll retrieve the bodies for a proper burial. This isn't called the _Forest of_ _ **Death**_ for nothing." Checking his watch he saw the flare shoot up into the air from Anko's position and he unlocked the gate. He said with an eye smile, "I'll be seeing you three but you won't see me!" The three entered the darkened forest at 5:00 AM sharp and Kakashi locked the gate behind them before he vanished in a body flicker.

 **Konoha Hospital hours later** ….

Around noon Yūgao was quietly sitting in the waiting room meditating to keep herself calm. It had been hours. Hayate was beyond sick and she feared for his life. Tsunade-sama and her apprentice Shizune were in there operating. Years ago Hayate had survived a poison gas attack but his lungs were severely damaged in the process. It left him with a chronic cough and sadly left him prone to things like pneumonia. He had been really sick and unable to work the last few days but he was taking his normal medicine and insisted that he was okay. Yūgao was naturally very concerned but when she got back from the Uchiha's trial last night she found Hayate passed out on the floor wheezing shallowly beside their bed when she got home.

The ANBU sword mistress immediately summoned medics and she'd been on station here at the hospital ever since. She'd seen Jiraiya-sama come and go a few times (presumably to see Tsunade) but didn't understand why he'd be allowed in an operating room with her boyfriend when she wasn't. It agitated Yūgao greatly but she knew it was anxiety rather than logic guiding her actions. It was about that time she saw Naruto walk in holding a rolled up scroll. "Naruto? What are you doing here? I thought you were in the Forest of Death."

Naruto got a deer in the headlights look. "You sent boss to a place called the _Forest of Death?_ Do you hate him that much sensei?"

Realizing this wasn't the original Naruto she said, "You're a shadow clone. Why are you here at the hospital?"

"I came because I completed Mito-sama's seal for Tsunade-sama." said Naruto's shadow clone. "I've been at it since five in the morning and I'm running out of chakra."

"What's the seal for?" asked Yūgao.

Naruto unrolled the scroll and said, "Channel as much chakra as you can spare into this Neko nee-chan -right into the center."

Yūgao heard him use his more affectionate term for her and saw a massively complex seal with a rhombus design in the center. "Why Naruto-kun?"

"Because it will convert your chakra into healing chakra and store it." said Tsunade. She had appeared out of nowhere and was obviously very fatigued. Looking at the seal she said, "Have you tested it Naruto? Did you really complete Mito Obaa-sama's masterpiece?"

Naruto said. "I'm a shadow clone Tsunade-sama. I don't have enough chakra to create another to test. All of the formulas check out. The finalization took all morning and a lot of Jiraiya-sama's chakra and Hokage Jiji's. I had to complete decades of work in a few hours."

Yūgao was completely confused. "What _is_ this seal?" she asked Tsunade.

"It's called the Creation Rebirth seal." said Tsunade. "If it works it will save your lover Hayate's life."

The purple haired woman's brown eyes got huge. "It will convert my chakra into healing chakra to save Hayate-kun's life?! How much do you need?!"

"How many shadow clones can you make without chakra exhaustion?" asked the tired Tsunade.

Yūgao answered "I can make three Tsunade-sama."

"Then put that much in." instructed the Slug sannin.

Yūgao followed Naruto's instructions carefully and channeled all the chakra she could spare into it before she fell back in her seat panting. "That's all I've got." she huffed out. Truthfully Yūgao put in more than she should have and felt like passing out.

Tsunade growled and shoved a chakra pill in Yūgao's mouth before calling a nurse over. "Watch over Uzuki Yūgao and make sure she gets some food in her." Turning away from the nurse to the shadow clone she said, "Naruto-kun, come with me." and led him back to the operating room….

 **In the scenic Forest of Death**

"Well, nature has officially lost all its charm to me." said Sakura breathing heavily. Her Team was comprised of Choji and Sai and poor Sakura just witnessed the truly terrifying power….of Choji's appetite.

 _Flashback…._

 _Sai made the mistake of nailing what he mistook for a rabbit in the bushes with a kunai. They had been hunting for lunch because most of the plants in the area were poisonous. They were fortunate that Sakura was with them because she could identify the poisonous ones. As it turned out the rabbit was actually the foot of an enormous bear that coincidentally was also hunting for lunch. The bear currently had a kunai it its foot and was quite angry. Now apparently young, tender, succulent ninja meat was on the menu. "Sai, you are a complete_ _ **moron!**_ _I just wanted to share that fact with you before we end up in that bear's stomach!" screeched Sakura as they ran for their lives._

 _"Shut up Forehead girl! At least let us get eaten with dignity!" yelled Sai. It was actually the first time she'd heard Sai use real emotion in his voice….even if it was stark, raving terror. (Twelve foot monster bears seem to have a knack for inspiring that)._

 _That's when Choji came into view with wide eyes as his comrades were racing towards him at top speed. "Run Choji; it's a giant bear!" yelled Sakura to her pleasingly plump teammate._

 _Sai bellowed, "Move it slim or you'll be dead!"_

 _Choji only saw the bear running at him and froze up. Yes that massive hungry bear….that massive and tasty bear….that supersized bear smorgasbord that was rushing towards a waiting Choji at breakneck speed…._

 _Both Sai and Sakura were terrified and holding on to each other in fear as Choji let out a guttural roar that one would only expect from some prehistoric ancestor. The unsuspecting bear froze in its tracks as Choji closed upon it with visions of bearburgers in his eyes. Holding his kunai knives like a knife and fork Choji closed for the kill…._

 _Flashback end…._

Sakura shook her head. Choji had run out of snacks hours ago. The ravenous look of a hungry berserker Akimichi was far too frightening for mere words to describe. If Choji or Emi _ever_ asked for the last slice of pie the Sakura would _gladly_ hand it over no matter how much she wanted it –no questions asked. That being said Sakura commented, "You know now that it's cooked this bear really isn't too bad." All three teammates helped skin it and built a big enough fire pit and before long were feeding themselves on roasted bear. "Good thing you had all those seasonings in your backpack Choji. You're pretty good at cooking." complimented Sakura.

"Thanks Sakura." said Choji between bites. "With the right seasonings anything is possible. We Akimichis have believed that for generations."

….

Naruto, Hinata and Maya were eating something more pedestrian than bear; fried fish. On the positive side it was much safer to catch. "I had no idea juken had applications when fishing Hinata-chan. Those Hakutsume blades made it a cinch." said Maya. "You were catching them so fast that Naruto-kun and I couldn't keep up."

"Just don't tell Obaa-chan." said Hinata with a shiver. "I never want her to find out I was using the family blades as fishing tools."

Naruto chuckled. "You never know Hinata-chan. Hanako Obaa-chan may have used them that way herself at some point. I guess we'll never know. It looks like the first batch is cooked. Let's dig in."

….

"That was awesome Yakumo!" said Kiba. "Your genjutsu around us scared those giant tigers off without a hitch."

Yakumo blushed slightly. "Thank you but I didn't do that much."

Shino said, "I disagree, you don't give yourself enough credit Yakumo-san. We have been completely safe from predators thanks to your skills. At the rate we're going we will be at the tower be tomorrow morning."

….

"This whole forest is troublesome; what a drag." complained a damp Shikamaru.

Ino said, "Everything is a drag for you Shikamaru. At least we have food now. This giant turtle is pretty good and its shell makes a giant cooking bowl."

"Shikamaru's just upset that the turtle pulled him into the river and nearly drowned him." said Emi. "Here Shikamaru; try some nice, yummy boiled turtle meat. It's tender and tasty."

"To a starving person anything is good." said Shikamaru as he took a bite. "Hmmm….It's not too bad."

Emi growled, "If Naruto-kun was here he'd appreciate my cooking much more than you do."

"I quite agree." said Ino. "Naruto-kun would be much better company in this forest."

' _Women are so troublesome_ ….' lamented Shikamaru in his mind.

 **Konoha Hospital**

Naruto's shadow clone checked the seal on Hayate's chest. The sickly jonin was on a respirator and they'd done everything humanly possible. Naruto's clone said, "It's ready. Channel chakra into the seal end everything should work automatically. I don't have enough chakra left to activate it Tsunade-sama."

"I'll take care of that part Naruto-kun." said Tsunade. "You just observe. Shizune, remove the respirator."

The room was silent as all the equipment was moved clear. All that could really be heard was the weak wheezes as Hayate struggled to breathe.

Yūgao had been allowed to watch away from the others with Jiraiya. Jiraiya was actually there as much to restrain Yūgao should she emotionally lose control of herself as much as anything.

The silence was broken when Tsunade placed her hands on the scroll lying on Hayate's chest. "Fuinjutsu: Creation rebirth!" said Tsunade with amped emotions. The seal activated and the scroll literally disintegrated as the ink pattern transferred to Hayate's skin. Yūgao held her breath as she watched the glowing lines envelop and surround her lover and spread out all over his body. The monitors all went crazy in the room as a colossal amount of healing chakra entered Hayate's body and stimulated the growth of new cells to be born at an incredible rate.

Tsunade watched with wide eyes as even the discoloration and scars from the surgery vanished in the regeneration process. The glow of the seal was nearly blinding but Naruto's shadow clone as well as Tsunade and Shizune forced themselves to watch with rapt attention. After nearly ten minutes the glow subsided and the room was filled with silence. Tsunade placed her hand on Hayate's chest and sent in a pulse of chakra. Suddenly, Hayate gasped as if it was his first breath in his life. Yūgao nearly leapt out of her chair but Jiraiya kept her still. The deep intakes of air were a welcome sound to Tsunade as she instructed her people to hook the monitors back up to check Hayate's vitals.

Twenty minutes later Tsunade finished a deep medical scan and said, "The operation is a complete success. I dare say Gekko Hayate has the healthiest lungs in the Elemental Nations." The relief in her voice was evident. She motioned for Jiraiya to let go of Yūgao.

Yūgao came over and looked at Hayate. The bags under his eyes were gone and he was resting peacefully. He'd never looked so healthy to her in his life. Tsunade touched his temples and then pulled away so Yūgao would be all he saw when he woke up. His dark eyes fluttered open and he saw Yūgao's warm brown ones full of tears. "Yūgao-chan, why are you crying?" his voice and breathing sounded steady and even with a trace of the usual raspyness.

Yūgao gave him a deep, loving kiss that made him want to melt. When she pulled back she was smiling, "I'm crying because I'm happy you baka. I love you my Hayate-kun."

The confused Hayate smiled up at his lover and said, "I love you too Yūgao-chan. I don't know why but I haven't felt so good in years."

Yūgao just smiled and kissed him again lovingly. ' _Hayate my love, you're going to be just fine now. Everything will be just fine_.'

POSTSCRIPT:

So, the advanced genins are taking a little camping trip while their sensei is watching over her boyfriend in the hospital. So far the score is The Akimichis: 1 and The Bears: 0. Naruto's relationship with Hikari has taken a new turn but neither have really had enough time to address it with the events going on. The nature of the creation rebirth seal will be explained next chapter. It is related to Tsunade's jutsu of the same name. And by popular demand Chibi Angel and Devilnata made a cameo in a dream sequence….just what goes on in poor Hinata-chan's head? See you next time. Blue out. 8/28/15


	25. Chapter 25

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well, I had a chapter of _Magik_ written up and I didn't care for it so I deleted it. So I wrote up an entirely new chapter and then my USB flash drive died so I lost it too. I got disgusted at that point that decided to rewrite it later. Thus we ended up with a chapter of Curse of the Ryugan ahead of schedule instead. This chapter will finish up the training arc and next chapter we will start the canon timeline. Here's chapter 25:

Last time:

 _….Tsunade finished a deep medical scan and said, "The operation is a complete success. I dare say Gekko Hayate has the healthiest lungs in the Elemental Nations." The relief in her voice was evident. She motioned for Jiraiya to let go of Yūgao._

 _Yūgao came over and looked at Hayate. The bags under his eyes were gone and he was resting peacefully. He'd never looked so healthy to her in his life. Tsunade touched his temples and then pulled away so Yūgao would be all he saw when he woke up. His dark eyes fluttered open and he saw Yūgao's warm brown ones full of tears. "Yūgao-chan, why are you crying?" his voice and breathing sounded steady and even with a trace of the usual raspyness._

 _Yūgao gave him a deep, loving kiss that made him want to melt. When she pulled back she was smiling, "I'm crying because I'm happy you baka. I love you my Hayate-kun."_

 _The confused Hayate smiled up at his lover and said, "I love you to Yūgao-chan. I don't know why but I haven't felt so good in years."_

 _Yūgao just smiled and kissed him again lovingly. '_ _Hayate my love, you're going to be just fine now. Everything will be just fine_ _._ '

 **Chapter 25**

 **Konoha, Forest of Death**

The Advanced Genin Class had settled in for the night and generally was doing okay. No one had been injured badly and various jonins were observing them and taking notes. Sarutobi Asuma was observing Shikamaru, Emi and Ino. They'd set up a tent and the three students were taking shifts of guarding. ' _Their Teamwork was a tad rough at first but they've adapted quickly and have performed well. These_ _ANBU Brats_ _are living up well to their name. They are very aware of their surroundings and more than once I've had to avoid a kunai thrown by Isuzu Emi. Her throwing speed and aim are uncanny. I have no doubt that I'd be dead or injured seriously if I was moving at chunin speeds. Nara Shikamaru has reluctantly assumed the role of the leader of this team and given their first day's performance they should reach the tower unharmed_.' –Sarutobi Asuma

Kakashi was watching Naruto, Maya and Hinata from long range because all of the various seal traps they'd set up wouldn't allow him to get any closer. There were also four of Naruto's shadow clones guarding the camp. ' _From my observations this team has performed flawlessly as an experienced genin team or better. Their teamwork is superb and they already seem familiar with each other's strengths and weaknesses. They seem to follow a different leader as the circumstances change. So far this system has worked well and whoever has the best skill set for a given circumstance has automatically taken the lead. I recommend these three become a future genin squad together and I believe all three of them are destined to become excellent leaders. With the right teacher I believe their potential is endless_.' –Hatake Kakashi

Choji, Sakura and Sai had set up camp at a cave entrance and were sleeping behind a carefully constructed set of traps. Shiranui Genma was tasked with watching over them. ' _From my observations this group's teamwork was very spotty at the beginning but after the incident with the bear they quickly put their differences aside and began functioning as an efficient unit. I don't know what all Uzuki Yūgao has been teaching them but whatever it is has been very successful. I would say given more time these three would mesh into an excellent combat team. They have adapted to every situation they've been put in smoothly since the bear attack and have set up a formidable defense for their camp. They should be at the tower by afternoon tomorrow at their current rate_.' - Shiranui Genma

Yūhi Kurenai was observing her charge Kurama Yakumo as well as Kiba and Shino. Admittedly, Kurenai was a bit biased and concerned because of Yakumo's presence in the Forest of Death but much to Kurenai's surprise both of Yakumo's teammates were extremely supportive of the Kurama heiress and while they didn't coddle her they were very protective of her. ' _This team has performed very well and so far they are outstanding. As a group they have a diverse set of skills but rather than conflicting with each other as I would expect from fresh Academy Students; they have used their skills to compliment each other's abilities. On a personal note I would like to lead this team. Their potential is outstanding_.' –Yūhi Kurenai

 **Konoha Hospital**

Naruto's shadow clone nearly popped under the bone crushing hug from Yūgao. He was very happy for Neko nee-chan but at the same time he rapidly was running out of chakra and needed to trade notes with Tsunade about the Creation Rebirth seal. He was soon sitting beside a tired Tsunade at a table who ruffled his hair affectionately. "Mito Obaa-sama would be just as proud of you as I am Naruto-kun." said Tsunade. "To have completed that seal that I couldn't after ten years of study only proves to me that you are the true heir of the Uzumaki Clan. Mito Obaa-sama left behind a lot of other seal creations and notes that I want you to have."

"But they belong to your _family_ Tsunade-sama." said the clone in shock.

Tsunade smiled. "We are cousins but we are still offshoots of the same Royal line. We _are_ family Naruto-kun. I based my Creation Rebirth Jutsu on that seal but it only works on me using chakra I've stored for years. It took me a decade to create that. The true purpose of the seal that Mito Obaa-sama was working on was to take _anyone's_ chakra and convert it into healing chakra to save someone's life in an emergency situation. You completed it for her and it worked _beautifully_. On behalf of my beloved Obaa-sama I thank you deeply my Uzu Prince." The clone blushed at her praise which made Tsunade laugh. She leaned over and kissed his forehead. "Become the great man I foresee you becoming Naruto-kun." with that she flicked the clone's forehead causing him to dispel and returned all of his memories to the original Naruto that was resting in the tent his team set up.

 **Forest of Death**

Naruto woke up after receiving the massive amount of memories from his shadow clone about the Creation Rebirth seal and what had happened with Hayate. Seeing both Hinata-chan and Maya-chan were sleeping he decided to tell them about it in the morning. For now he would bask in the happiness that Neko nee-chan was happy and she and Hayate were safe and well….

 **ANBU Headquarters**

Seven members of ROOT ANBU arrived at ANBU Headquarters to report in….or at least that was their story. "So you just spoke to Danzo-sama a few minutes ago after your long term mission and he told you to report here?" asked ANBU Monkey at the front security desk.

The spokesperson of the seven said, "Yes, we came directly from his mansion to here ANBU-san."

"I understand." said Monkey as he made a hand signal.

 ** _All hell broke loose_** **.** Monkey and several hidden ANBU attacked the seven fake ROOT ANBU and in the process three of the imposters escaped with several ANBU hot on their heels. Gazeru and Rat appeared out of nowhere and Gazeru took the head of one of them with her katana. The leader of the imposters screamed " ** _NO! Kato!_** " as he threw an exploding tag back at Rat and Gazeru. The resulting explosion killed Rat instantly and Gazeru was hurt badly. "Let's finish this Konoha whore off!" growled the leader as he turned back and closed on the injured Gazeru.

"But we need to flee sir!" said his subordinate frantically.

"I don't give a fuck! She killed my brother. I'll cut her head off!" the leader yelled.

Hikari looked up from the position where she was lying face down on the ground and saw the imposter pull out a tanto. ' _Shit! I'll have to use it_.' Gazeru made the Tiger sign and said, "Scorch Release: Extreme Steaming Murder!" Three miniature suns of white hot flame formed around her. Two hit the leader dead on and instantly boiled the water in his body leaving a mummified corpse behind. The other fireball hit the follower who was trying to run but he met the same fate as his leader. Gazeru blacked out after she saw both her enemies were dead….

ANBU Dove and Bear arrived on the scene and found the downed Gazeru and Rat. "She's hurt but alive." said Dove as she rolled Gazeru over on her back and started using the mystic palm jutsu on Hikari.

"Rat is dead via explosion." said Bear after checking his fallen comrade. Bear then went over to the two fallen imposters. "Damn….so that's her S-ranked bloodline. I'd heard it was extinct." he said as he stared at the two desiccated corpses and cringed.

Dove said, "I'm taking her straight to the infirmary. Guard over Rat's body until others arrive. Bear nodded as Dove disappeared with Gazeru in a body flicker.

Off in the distance Yakushi Kabuto watched carefully in the underbrush as more ANBU arrived to clean up the mess. He'd been too far away to intervene and help his Sound Village allies. But discovering the extinct Scorch Release bloodline still existed in _Konoha_ of all places was a complete shock to him. Making a disappointed look he pulsed his chakra twice to activate the suicide seals on any remaining members of the Sound infiltration squad left alive to prevent them from talking. They were only fodder to recover the Uchiha bloodline anyway. Truthfully Kabuto expected them to fail but this was truly pathetic. They didn't even make it past the front security desk. All the work gathering information and passwords by Kabuto over the last few weeks amounted to _nothing_. Kabuto withdrew wondering what Orochimaru-sama's reaction would be to this failure and the news of the scorch release reappearing….

 **Forest of Death**

The following morning the various teams of the Advanced Genin Class all woke up automatically at 3 A.M. in the morning and began quietly cursing out their sadistic instructor for putting them on such a ridiculous sleeping schedule. The moment the sun crept over the horizon all the teams moved out to get a jump on the day. The morning was cool and dew was everywhere when Naruto, Maya and Hinata moved out with Hinata on point. Kakashi observed them keenly as they took an odd route into the vegetation. He was about to follow them when a trap was set off and in the blink of an eye he was upside down hanging from a tree by a net filled with chakra restraining seals.

He opened his eye to look around and saw Hinata sitting in front of him on a high tree branch. She smiled rather pleasantly. "Well, well. Good morning to you jonin Hatake-san. You told us we wouldn't see you but you either forgot about the byakugan or you're a bit sloppy since we're just _Academy Students_." she chuckled as Kakashi sweat dropped.

Maya said from his left, "Hatake-san, do we get bonus points for capturing you? Everything Yūgao-sensei does has a purpose. I have a hard time believing you're not planning to ambush us or something."

Kakashi was sweating heavily in his upside down position. Every time he tried to move the chakra net seemed to constrict a bit. ' _Yūgao, what the hell have you been teaching these little monsters?_ ' "Mah, mah. I'm not here to attack you. I'm here to observe you in case you get in over your heads. Surely Uzuki-sensei wouldn't ask a fully fledged jonin to attack a bunch of kids. I can't believe you three would think she was that kind of sadist."

The silver haired jonin heard Naruto's voice behind him. " _Oh yes she would!_ " said Naruto as the girls nodded in unison. "She's sent _ANBU Teams_ after us on homework assignments!"

"Oh dear…." said Kakashi with his one eye wide. ' _I think these brats are serious_ ….'

Maya smiled seductively and said, "If you just tell us what bonus is involved for capturing you we won't hog tie you and haul you to the tower like a prized kill. Otherwise….This isn't called the _Forest of_ _ **Death**_ for nothing."

 _…_ _.Meanwhile_ ….

Emi had three kunai in each hand and Ino was crouched down trying to reach out mentally for their quarry….Sarutobi Asuma. ' _Good god! I had to jump to avoid the Nara's shadow and the Isuzu girl has more ammunition than entire battalions! What the hell has Yūgao been_ _ **feeding**_ _them?_ ' thought Asuma as he looked down and saw several neat slices through his uniform from the near misses from the kunai Emi launched earlier.

He heard Shikamaru's voice nearby say, "What kind of bonus points do you think he's worth?"

It wasn't very reassuring to the cigarette smoking jonin when he heard Ino ask, "Dead or alive Shikamaru?"

Asuma gulped loudly and then realized he'd given away his position in the process. He saw two kunai with a rope in between them flying at him before he started running again….

 ** _…_** ** _.With Shiranui Genma_** **…** **.**

The senbon chewing jonin leapt to the side as Choji's human bullet tank went flying by. Genma suddenly got his ankle snagged by a water whip from Sakura. With a wild look in her eyes the pink haired kunoichi in training said in a crazed voice, " _Come here bonus points assignment!_ "

' _I thought that the animals were the most dangerous thing in the forest!_ ' thought Genma before he was knocked out by the pommel of Sai's sword.

 _…_ _.With Yūhi Kurenai_ ….

"I'm _really sorry_ Kurenai-sensei!" fretted Yakumo. "But between the swarm of Shino-san's beetles, the tidal wave genjutsu I made and Kiba and Akamaru's fang over fang it was a little late to pull back!"

The battered Kurenai coughed and said, "It's alright Yakumo-chan; I had no idea you all would think I was a bonus test instead of a safety net. I wasn't watching out for an ambush. You three were the only thing I _didn't_ see as a threat. Can you please take these chakra cuffs off me now?"

Shino shook his head. "I'm very sorry sensei but you'll have to wear them to the tower. We have absolutely no logical reason to trust you and you did make us aware that you would be stalking us from the second we entered Training Ground 44."

' _What kind of mind games has Yūgao put you three through?!_ ' thought Kurenai. ' _They act like little ANBU agents_ ….' She sweat dropped. ' _Oh yeah; ANBU Brats_ ….'

 **Training Ground 44 -Central Tower**

All four teams (and their poor, unsuspecting captives) were camped outside the tower as a group waiting for the doors to open. All the jonins were ashamed and they heard Anko's hysterical laughter more than once inside the tower….

Naruto looked at his watch. "Another six hours and we'll be let in."

The jonins all groaned. Their collective thought was; ' _I'll kill Yūgao for setting us up in a trap like this!_ ' It was at that point that the Hokage himself arrived from inside the tower. When the doors opened and Hiruzen stepped out the jonin's collective thought changed to ' _Oh. My. Gawd….We'll never live this down_."

Hiruzen smiled as he lit up his pipe. "Quite a talented little group of Academy students we have here; wouldn't you say?" Asuma and the others sweat dropped.

Anko was standing beside the Hokage studiously though she practically had to shove he fist in her mouth to keep from exploding into laughter at her fellow jonin's pathetic plight….

The Third Hokage said, "Advanced Genin Class, you may release your captives. I'm going to look forward to reading _everyone's_ reports on this little adventure."

Naruto smiled as he released Kakashi from the net he was still wrapped up in. "So Hokage-Jiji, how many bonus points are they worth?" he said as he motioned his thumb back towards Kakashi.

Hiruzen blinked. "What are you talking about Naruto-kun? The goal was for you to make it to the Tower here unharmed. I had no idea that you were supposed to capture your jonin caretakers."

" _Caretakers?!_ " asked the Academy Students in horror.

"Yes, they were assigned to watch over you should you get into too much trouble." said the aged Hokage. "They were to bring you here or to the nearest exit should any of you get injured."

Emi got wide eyed and said, "You-you mean?!"

Asuma roared, " _Hokage-sama means you little fiends turned on your safety net like a_ _ **bunch of hungry piranhas!**_ _For three hours you….you little….You hunted me like a missing nin. Just how many kunais do you carry little girl?!_ " Asuma was totally red in the face by now and breathing heavily.

"Ummm….sorry?" said Emi.

"You mean all along you were telling the truth?!" asked Maya in shock. The jonins all nodded 'yes' violently.

"Gee, I feel kind of bad…." said Sakura. "I figured Yūgao-sensei sent you to take us out and make us lose points…." The angry glare from Genma's bloodshot eyes told her otherwise.

Hiruzen clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention. "Well, I'd say this test was quite _educational_. Let's get all of you back home. I'll expect full reports from everybody by tomorrow morning."

….

While Yūgao was taking **_good care_** of the now fully healthy Hayate in their bed at home her students and the jonins involved were all wondering if this whole fiasco was by accident or by design….

For his part, Hiruzen found the whole situation quite amusing. He didn't blame the jonins for not expecting to be ambushed but at the same time he could have a little fun with it…. _'Well, I_ _ **did**_ _tell Yūgao to train them like ANBU trainees (chuckle). ANBU Brats indeed. I'd better order the jonins not to hold any grudges or there could be pitched battles in the streets and I don't want to deal with the paperwork. I'll have to conveniently bring that up to Asuma over dinner tonight since he was a tad riled up_.'

 **Konoha Ninja Academy**

The next morning the Advanced Genin Class reported in to their sensei and found that Yūgao was basically beside herself with happiness and that everything was okay with Hayate. She announced how proud she was of Naruto because his mastery with seals had saved Hayate's life. The class was surprised because Naruto had only informed them Hayate was okay and hadn't mentioned the seals. (He'd told Hinata and Maya privately after they got home last night). Yūgao was soon reading her student's reports of what happened in the Forest of Death before she turned them over to the Hokage. Her eyebrows nearly hit the ceiling before she burst into laughter. The day went fairly normal after that though Yūgao was prone to the occasional bouts of the giggles from time to time. Everyone went to their usual afternoon classes and Naruto soon found out Hikari was in the secure ward in the Hospital from his Fuinjutsu Class.

After class Naruto was interrogating (read: strangling) ANBU Sloth about the situation. "What do you _mean_ Hikari-chan was hurt and in the Hospital? I need to go see her damn it! Tell me her Room number Sloth!"

"It's _classified_ Fox-sensei!" whimpered Sloth. "Even _I_ don't know what room she's in and she's assigned to my team. You'll have to talk to ANBU Commander Dragon!"

Naruto growled, "Very well. I'll talk to Dragon immediately." With that Naruto stormed out of the room.

"Whew….Better Commander Dragon than me." thought Sloth aloud after Naruto left. The lazy ANBU beat a hasty (for a Nara) retreat after that.

It only took threatening Dragon one time with a prank that would outdo _Operation: KARMA_ for Naruto to get the information he wanted about Hikari's whereabouts.

 **Natsume Clan Home**

"Hikari was injured in the line of duty?" asked Maya.

Naruto nodded. "Yes, I'm going to go see her but she's in the ANBU ward so only I can go because I have ANBU clearance."

Hinata sighed. "Well, this won't do Naruto-kun. We need to send gifts with you to give her."

"Gifts?" asked Naruto clueless.

Maya giggled. "Candy or flowers Naruto-kun."

"Yes, a bouquet of flowers and some chocolates from us girls." Hinata added decisively. "You need to bring her something too Naruto-kun."

Naruto grinned and kissed both of his girlfriends. "I have just the ticket in mind."

 **Konoha Hospital**

That evening Hikari was lying in her hospital bed in the secure ward. She felt like hell but was very fortunate the damage hadn't been much worse. ANBU Rat had absorbed the brunt of the explosion with his body but the shockwave still hit Hikari dead on and made her a walking bruise. If not for her ANBU body armor it still could have been fatal. Doctor Akira promised Hikari she was going to make a full recovery but for now bed rest was the order of the day. The young blonde woman was going stir crazy as a result. ' _Hurry up and wait. Kami I want something to do!_ '

She was also concerned she'd had to use her bloodline. The scorch release was extinct in Suna where her late parents had migrated from. She really didn't remember them well since they died when she was little. Apparently her Great-Grandfather on her Mother's side had the scorch release and the recessive trait for it manifested in Hikari. When it was discovered Hikari was an Academy Student and was quickly rushed into ANBU training to protect her bloodline. In spite of the fact Tomoe Hikari was born in Konoha and was a Konoha citizen from the outset the Third Hokage felt everything should be kept under wraps for her safety. Seeing all of the political wrangling that she'd seen in her ANBU career Hikari figured that Suna would have tried to extradite her on some ancient set of clan laws from before recorded history….

' _Bored; bored,_ _ **bored!**_ ' thought Hikari. ' _I wish Naruto-kun would come and visit me. He's the only one outside of ANBU that might….of course he might be denied access since he's technically_ _ **semi**_ _-ANBU_.' She heard a knock on her door and thought. ' ** _Please_** _let my prayers be answered! Give me something to do!_ '

ANBU Fox poked his head in and saw Hikari there looking exhausted. "Hikari-chan…? Can I come in?"

Hikari smiled tiredly. "Please come in Fox." ' _Thank you Kami! I'll try to remember to pray more often!_ ' She saw Naruto come in and close the door. Her smile widened when he took off his mask and she saw the concern in his eyes. He gently leaned over her and kissed her sweetly much to her happiness.

"I've been really worried about you Hikari-chan." said Naruto. "I practically had to threaten Sloth and Dragon before they revealed all their secrets to me."

Hikari went bug eyed. "Y-you threatened ANBU Commander Dragon?"

"Mmmmh. You just need to know the right words to say." said Naruto with as smile.

"What did you say to him?" she whispered.

Naruto flashed a toothy grin that showed off his elongated canines. "That's a trade secret Hikari-chan." She pouted and Naruto chuckled. "Besides, I brought you something good."

Hikari perked up. "What is it?"

Naruto unsealed some flowers and some candies. "These are from Hinata-chan and Maya-chan since I told them you were in the Hospital." He unsealed a binder full of papers. "This is from me. It's my rough draft of the fuinjutsu book I've had my clones working on 24/7. What better way to pass the time than to share it with my brightest student? Besides, I wanted you to be the first to see it. Do you want to look at it together?"

Hikari was all smiles. "I'd really like that Naruto-kun." Neither Hikari nor Naruto noticed the time passing as she asked numerous questions as they read together until visiting hours ended. Hikari hadn't fully decided what to do yet but the idea of sharing Naruto wasn't too bad in her mind at this point. The warmth that surrounded him made her want to curl up with him like a blanket….

….

Two weeks later Hikari got out of the Hospital and she agreed to meet up with Maya and Hinata at the Natsume Clan Home to discuss the possibilities. Since she was in the ANBU ward Hinata and Maya hadn't been able to visit her directly. Naruto indicated that the girls wanted to know Hikari better and since Naruto had been visiting her in the Hospital Hikari and Naruto actually had some quality time together. Hikari noted that Naruto practically worshiped the ground Hinata and Maya walked on and she wanted that kind of affection in her life too. But for now Naruto had to concentrate on class and graduation so Hikari asked him to work on that while she worked he body back into physical shape.

' _Physical therapy is_ _ **so**_ _much fun_ ….' Hikari thought dourly.

 **Rice Country, Sound Village**

Yakushi Kabuto was standing before Orochimaru finishing his report. "….and that's what happened Orochimaru-sama. I discovered the scorch release belongs to one of the ANBU but the infiltration squad failed. I can only confirm three dead but I was able to activate the suicide seals as you ordered. I cannot deny or confirm that the remaining four in the squad are dead."

The Snake sannin shrugged noncommittally. "It's of little importance in the grand scheme of things. We'll collect Sasuke-kun in the course of our invasion….The fact that the scorch release is alive and well **_does_** interest me though. Is all you are absolutely certain of is it's a female in ANBU?"

Kabuto nodded. "Yes Orochimaru-sama. I would suspect Danzo has the complete information but I haven't been able to contact him through any of the usual channels."

Orochimaru hummed as he considered the situation. "So we've still heard nothing from Danzo and security has been beefed up since that massive…. _prank_ took place in Konoha?"

"Yes Orochimaru-sama." answered Kabuto. "Slipping in and out of the Village has become much more difficult than I imagined possible and the two other sannin being present in the village is a bad sign. My spy network within the village is gradually being rooted out and Danzo seems to have vanished. I feel I can only rely on myself at this point. Konoha is quietly mobilizing. Do you think they are on to the invasion plans Orochimaru-sama?"

Orochimaru shook his head at his loyal subordinate. "No, if they were they would already be making diplomatic moves with their so called _allies_ in Suna to solve things peacefully. You worry too much Kabuto. I know the way Sarutobi-sensei thinks. The idea of him mobilizing for a war against us is preposterous. The Leaf Village has grown weak and complacent just as he has; we will teach them that lesson when we burn Konoha Village to the ground during the Chunin Exams in six months. You'd better get back to the Leaf Kabuto-kun; there's only so long you can be missing you know."

Kabuto bowed. "By your leave Orochimaru-sama." he said as he vanished in a body flicker.

' _What are you up to Sarutobi-sensei?_ ' wondered the Snake sannin. '…. _And what happened with that ridiculous series of pranks a couple of months ago? Was it all staged? I've lost all contact with Danzo as well. I can't imagine the old warhawk actually teaming up with Sarutobi-sensei for real_ …. _Danzo is a bigger traitor than I could ever_ _ **hope**_ _to be_.'

 _Of course, the idea that Shimura Danzo was_ _ **already dead**_ _never occurred to the Snake sannin_ ….

 **Konoha, Hokage's Office**

It was Friday and Sarutobi Hiruzen was whistling a jaunty tune as he finished up his paperwork. ' _The Advanced Genin Class will be graduating Monday; even better Tsunade-chan will be taking over as Hokage_ _ **next**_ _Monday._ _ **Even better**_ _than that I have a date with the beautiful Hanako-chan tonight (giggle, giggle)._ ' He stole a glance at his picture of the young Hanako in her bikini and blushed while stemming a nosebleed.

Hiruzen looked over the Advanced Genin Class arrangements one last time and made a minor correction before he called it a day. ' _The future of the village is brighter than ever. Orochimaru my failed student; you don't stand a snowball's chance in hell with what we have waiting for you and the Fourth Kazekage –assuming that Rasa-sama doesn't back out when he finds the playing field has changed rather drastically_ ….'

 **Monday morning, Konoha Ninja Academy**

….It had been a long and rough road but the final day of the Advanced Genin Class had finally arrived….

The twelve Advanced Genin trainees reported in at 4 AM as usual and were all quietly looking at twelve sleek black forehead protectors sitting on the table by Yūgao's desk. They all wondered what their final exams would be to earn those headbands. When Yūgao arrived they exchanged greetings with their sensei and she began to speak. "This is your last day in the Advanced Genin Class. There is no final test as there is no need for one. You have all more than proven your mettle in the last two months and I'm proud of you. Your forehead protectors and headbands are matte black to match your stealth combat gear. Come up in alphabetical order and pick the one you want. They are all identical though I'm sure you'll be customizing them a bit over time. Well done my _ANBU Brats_. You are burning examples of the _Will of Fire_."

One by one the class members came up and picked their forehead protectors and strapped them on in the standard position on their foreheads. They were all smiling amongst themselves and quietly complimenting each other with their new look now that they had headbands on.

After everyone settled back down; Yūgao started to read the team assignments for the Advanced Genin Class off to her students. "After much consideration from the Hokage and myself we have arranged the class into four teams each with different specialties. I've evaluated your scores based on your weekend homework assignments and these are the combinations that have worked best and work well with your particular skill sets. Be professional and work well with your new team. You have all become close comrades in this class by working together and will continue to do so in the future but a genin team is more like a family. You have to stick with each other through thick and thin, respect one another and support each other even at the worst of times. Here are the Teams as decreed by the Third Hokage:"

"Team 7 is an Assault team under Jonin Sarutobi Asuma. You've met him in the Forest of Death. _(Emi cringed)_. He is known for his expertise in strategy and tactics. The Team will be made up of Akimichi Choji, Sai and Haruno Sakura. I trust all three of you to do your absolute best. You will learn a lot from him."

"Team 8 is a Tracking & Capture team under the Jonin Yuuhi Kurenai whose specialty as a genjutsu expert is widely known. You all already know her from the special genjutsu course. The Team is comprised of Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and Kurama Yakumo. You three can learn much from her and I expect you all to excel under her tutelage."

"Team 9 is already established under Maito Gai. Your tutors Hyūga Neji, Lee Rock and Tenten make up this Team so you can look forward to working with them again in the future."

"Team 10 is an Interrogation & Assassination unit under the recently promoted Jonin Mitarashi Anko. You've already met her. Like myself Anko has an ANBU background. This Team is made up of Nara Shikamaru, Isuzu Emi, and Yamanaka Ino. Work hard and don't slack off and you'll do very well with Anko." ' _I hope_.'

"Team 11 is a Heavy Assault Unit organized around sword wielders like they do in Kumo. This is a bit of an experiment on the Hokage's part since we've broken new ground with this class. It will be made up of Uzumaki Naruto, Natsume Maya, and Hyūga Hinata. Yūgao cocked her head as she saw the Hokage had written in a last minute change. The Jonin in charge of this unit is…. ** _ME?!_** _ **What the fuck?!**_ I've done _more_ than enough training these little maniacs for the Hokage and now he wants me to take a genin team?! This was supposed to be Hatake Kakashi's team, damn it! Yūgao vanished in a body flicker screaming about the injustice of it all and there being hell to pay….Naruto, Maya, and Hinata were all a bit stunned. They were all very excited and happy to be on the same team but at the same time weren't sure how to gauge Yūgao-sensei's reaction….

Within the next twenty minutes Asuma, Kurenai and Anko arrived to pick up their respective teams and all the classmates said warm goodbyes to each other. (Emi gave a huge hug to Naruto which made him blush). That left Team 11 to wonder what their errant sensei had gone to do….They just hoped it wasn't too drastic….

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, after 25 chapters we are finally at the beginning of the canon timeline (or at least the Teams being formed and real missions starting). It took a lot longer to develop than I expected but it's worked out well enough. Orochimaru and Kabuto have finally made an appearance and Hikari's bloodline has attracted the wrong kind of attention as well. Tsunade will soon take office. How will everyone react when that happens? More importantly, how is poor Yūgao going to get out of being a Jonin Sensei? See you next time. Blue out. 9/14/15


	26. Chapter 26

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I'd like to thank **ShadowImageComics** for his help on this chapter in developing an OC character for this arc. This chapter is fairly light and flowed pretty smoothly. It came out quicker than I expected. Now on to Team 11's first mission! Here's chapter 26:

Last time:

 _"Team 11 is a Heavy Assault Unit organized around sword wielders like they do in Kumo. This is a bit of an experiment on the Hokage's part since we've broken new ground with this class. It will be made up of Uzumaki Naruto, Natsume Maya, and Hyūga Hinata. Yūgao cocked her head as she saw the Hokage had written in a last minute change. The Jonin in charge of this unit is…._ _ **ME?!**_ _ **What the fuck?!**_ _I've done_ _more_ _than enough training these little maniacs for the Hokage and now he wants me to take a genin team?! This was supposed to be Hatake Kakashi's team, damn it!" Yūgao vanished in a body flicker screaming about the injustice of it all and there being hell to pay….Naruto, Maya, and Hinata were all a bit stunned. They were all very excited and happy to be on the same team but at the same time weren't sure how to gauge Yūgao-sensei's reaction…._

 _Within the next twenty minutes Asuma, Kurenai and Anko arrived to pick up their respective teams and all the classmates said warm goodbyes to each other. (Emi gave a huge hug to Naruto which made him blush). That left Team 11 to wonder what their errant sensei had gone to do….They just hoped it wasn't too drastic…._

 **Chapter 26**

 **Konoha**

Team 11 went through the paces for a couple of days but other than testing their endurance and getting to know their individual kenjutsu styles a little better personally Yūgao already was very familiar with her team (especially Naruto). They all lived under the same roof and were very close friends (Yūgao wasn't aware that her three teenage charges were intimate though). To blend in better with her team Yūgao acquired some black sleeved ANBU gear like her students. Shtreching her shoulders Thursday morning; Yūgao gathered her team and said, "What do you guys say to grabbing a C-rank mission? D-ranks are below your skill sets and you are definitely combat ready. Any objections?" Seeing her team was all in favor of taking their first mission the purple haired sword mistress led Team 11 to the Hokage Tower and shook her head at the last visit she made there….

 _Flashback…._

 _After Team announcements; Yūgao appeared in a swirl of leaves at the Hokage Tower. All of the normally unflappable ANBU Neko's usual self control and composure was gone. She burst into the Hokage's Office with the paperwork stating she was a Jonin Sensei for Team 11 in her hand. With wild brown eyes full of depravity she said to the Third Hokage, "_ _ **What** __is the meaning of this?! I taught the class of little savages like you told me and now you make me a Team Sensei? What have I done to deserve this?! I've seen punishments for missing nins that were_ _far_ _more lenient than this!" Waving her hands around wildly she cried, "_ ** _Why me?!_** _"_

 _For his part the Hokage was a bit stunned that Yūgao was ignoring her usual tactful and calm way of presenting herself. He said pleasantly to the young ANBU, "Please be seated Yūgao. I'm saving you from the lesser of two evils." The Hokage offered her a cup of sake and motioned for her to sit. Yūgao sat down and slammed the offered drink in one go. Hiruzen said, "Are you feeling calmer now or do you need another?"_

 _…_ _.Three shots later Yūgao calmed herself down and blushed atomic red realizing she was acting totally out of line with her supreme leader. Bowing she said, "I'm terribly sorry Hokage-sama. My behavior was inexcusable. I must ask of you though, why am I a Team leader now? Technically I've been in ANBU from a young age. I never acquired a jonin rank."_

 _Hiruzen smiled seeing the purple haired ninja he knew had come to her senses. In a Fatherly way he said, "Uzuki Yugao, for your outstanding service in the Village of Konoha I bequeath the rank of a full Jonin Kunoichi upon you. Congratulations!" He handed her an official scroll stating the fact. The stamp of the Hokage's Office made it official._

 _'_ _Damned old monkey!_ _' Yūgao thought crossly. '_ _He was expecting me!_ _'_

 _Hiruzen's smile widened and he said, "And yes, I was expecting you." Seeing Yūgao's shocked look he covered a chuckle and said. "Yūgao, I'm afraid you've become a victim of your own success."_

 _"_ _What do you mean Hokage-sama?" asked Yūgao earnestly._

 _The aged Hokage said, "Simply put, you trained your class so well that they were able to capture four fully fledged jonins and successfully transport them as captives through some of the worst territory known in Fire Country, the Forest of Death. Admittedly the jonins were all caught off guard but that really doesn't change things. They still should have been able to_ _easily_ _avoid mere genins; let alone Academy Students. I would say other than lacking field experience your ANBU Brats are bordering on_ _Chunin_ _level, not_ _Genin_ _level."_

 _Now Yūgao looked perplexed. "Hokage-sama, with all due respect; I thought that was the goal in teaching this class. We need frontline troops in preparation for an upcoming conflict and my job was to give them the tools to survive and succeed."_

 _Hiruzen nodded. "And you did; spectacularly I might add. Yūgao; you exceeded everyone's wildest expectations including my own. When the Jonin Council heard about the Advanced Genin Program naturally they were interested and curious but seeing the trials that the students had to endure as homework assignments and the fact they were successfully completing what should have been the equivalent of B-rank missions led the council to two possible conclusions: One was that you were an evil sadist that hated children and the other was that this little program was absolutely brilliant."_

 _"_ _Well, all of their homework_ ** _was_** _based on B-rank missions Hokage-sama. Those who couldn't make the cut would have cracked like the Uchiha did." explained the purple haired ANBU._

 _Hiruzen sweat dropped. '_ _Okay; the program is brilliant_ ** _and_** _she's an evil sadist that hates children_ _. ' "Ahem; setting that aside the Advanced Genins are a stunning success. __Many_ _jonin's were actually_ _fighting_ _to get a team of your ANBU Brats instead of waiting for this year's normal genins to graduate. Even Mitarashi Anko who has refused for years to train_ _anybody_ _was eager to get a team after they captured my son Asuma and the others."_

 _Yūgao put two and two together quickly. "Anko wanted the team of Isuzu Emi, Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino in particular because they scared the living hell out of Sarutobi Asuma didn't she?"_

 _Hiruzen nodded. "I believe that did factor into her wanting Team 10. She got to read his report on '_ _understanding how missing nins felt_ _' and became quite enamored with the idea of teaching those three. Here, see for yourself." said Hiruzen as he handed over the reports of the four jonins in the Forest of Death._

 _Yūgao's eyes had grown to comical proportions and her jaw hit the floor by the time she finished reading the four reports. "Kakashi-sempai likened them to giant tigers toying with their prey? Kurenai believes that the concept of overkill has been beaten out of them entirely? Asuma wouldn't wish them on his own worst enemy?...and Genma believes that if they decide to quit being ninjas they have all the qualifications to be future evil warlords….that's just cold…."_

 _"_ _The point is your little class of Academy Students made quite an impression Yūgao." said Hiruzen. "They made_ _such_ _an impression that the Jonin Council wants you to teach classes of handpicked students from now on so we have a steady supply of advanced genins. They recommended you get a class of ninety students immediately." Seeing the look of absolute terror in Yūgao's eyes Hiruzen said, "By making you the Jonin Sensei of Team 11 so you can '_ _assess your work_ _' I've gotten you out of teaching students at the Academy until you retire or hang yourself, whichever comes first."_

 _Yūgao stood up and saluted. "I will do_ ** _everything in my power_** _to make Team 11 the_ ** _best_** _genin team of all time Hokage-sama!"_

 _"_ _I would expect nothing less of such a dedicated kunoichi as yourself Yūgao." said Hiruzen proudly. "A piece of advice though. Try not to kill those three."_

 _Flashback end…._

' _Try not to kill them he says_.' thought Yūgao sourly. ' _These three are hardy as cockroaches and more tenacious than bloodhounds. It would take a lot more than what I can dish out to kill the likes of them_.' Knocking on the Hokage's Mission Office door Yūgao said, "Everyone at attention in the presence of Hokage-sama." Hearing permission to enter Yūgao and her genins entered and bowed respectfully. The purple haired jonin said, "Uzuki Yūgao and Team 11 reporting for duty Hokage-sama; I'd like to request a C-rank mission for my team."

Though the Hokage wasn't surprised his assistants were. "You want to take your Team out on a C-ranked mission without any D-rank experience Uzuki-san?" asked one of the new chunins in shock. His name was Shinji.

Team 11 glared at Shinji in their ANBU gear and looked quite menacing to him. Yūgao explained, "Shinji-san, members of the Advanced Genin Teams have been waived from the D-rank requirements by Hokage-sama himself. Is there a problem?"

"N-no Uzuki-san." quailed the chunin.

The Hokage hummed to himself and began going through the C-ranked missions. "Hmmm….Here's a simple mission to escort a bridge builder named Tazuna back to his home in Wave Country…." Getting a horrific feeling of déjà vu the Hokage said, "Nah; let's look for something else." as he tossed that mission carelessly over his shoulder. "The _Find Tora the cat mission_ has been upgraded to B-rank due to massive casualties incurred recently so it's out." he said as he tossed that one on the B-ranked mission pile. "Here's a delivery mission to the Daimyo in the Fire Capital. How about that one?" asked Hiruzen.

"A nice courier mission sounds ideal Hokage-sama." said Yūgao.

Sarutobi Hiruzen motioned to Shinji to bring out the package. It turned out to be relatively small but obviously it was a very heavy package from the way Shinji was struggling. He sat it down on the table roughly and it made a slight tearing sound. Then he said, "It's supposed to be very fragile so handle this with care despite the fact it weighs a lot." Everyone sweat dropped at the manhandling that the chunin had given the so-called _fragile_ object….

Naruto stepped forward to pick it up and tested the weight of it. Holding it up to eye level he sniffed once and asked, "This is supposed to go directly to the Fire Daimyo?" Seeing everyone nod Naruto asked, "Is there a reason why it's ticking and smells like cordite?"

Hinata looked at the package with her byakugan active and said, "It looks like Shinji-san caused a rip in a sealed bag within. It must have dampened the sound and smell of a concealed box inside surrounded by some particularly jagged pieces of jewelry. Odds are it's a bomb and the jewelry is shrapnel Naruto-kun. Set it down very gently."

Naruto sat the bomb down light as a feather and took a few steps back before he said, "I have a suspicion this particular mission could go south real fast."

Hiruzen snapped his fingers and two ANBU appeared. "Quite right. ANBU, summon the bomb disposal unit and clear the building."

 ** _An hour and a half later_** ….

Everyone was back at the Mission Desk and the bomb had been properly disposed of. A tracking team was dispatched to catch the bomber provided he/she hadn't already fled Konoha. Hiruzen said, "Well Team 11, I think that protecting the Fire Daimyo from being bombed counts as a B-rank. Do you still want a C-rank or would you rather call it a day?"

"We'd still like an escort or courier mission Hokage-sama." said Yūgao. "How about that bridge builder from earlier you mentioned?"

Hiruzen shrugged. "It seems like I've assigned that mission dozens of times for some odd reason. Shinji, retrieve that scroll would you?"

Shinji shuffled through the scrolls and said panicked, "I can't find it sir."

Everyone sweat dropped and stared at Shinji. "Forgive me; it's my first week on the job!" he whimpered.

" _Any_ C-ranked escort mission will do at this point." said the Hokage in a tired tone. Team 11 was radiating frustration by this point….as were the twenty-six teams waiting in line behind them wondering what in the hell was taking so long.

"Here you are Hokage-sama." said Shinji sweating as he handed over the scroll.

Hiruzen unrolled it and said "Well, it's a long but simple escort mission. You are to go to the shrine of Hekison Village in southern Tea Country and escort a Miko named Minami Natsuko back to the shrine in the Fire Capital. Apparently this was ordered by High Priest Wataru-sama before he was sacked a couple of weeks ago for sexual harassment. The mission still stands though. Will this suit your team's skills Yūgao?"

Looking the parameters over quickly, Yūgao said, "Team 11 will happily accept the Tea Country escort mission." Hiruzen quickly wrote down the mission and wished them good luck. Once they were outside and past the massive line of waiting teams Yūgao said, "Pack for a three week extended mission tonight and meet at the South Gates at 5 A.M. tomorrow. This evening I'll trust you three to research Tea Country on your own. We will trade notes about it tomorrow after we set out. Remember; geography, history, politics and anything else that might catch your eye in the region are all important. Knowledge is power. I'll see you in the morning." Yūgao then vanished in a body flicker.

"We really need to learn the body flicker." said Naruto enviously.

"We will eventually Naruto-kun." said Maya. Then she sighed, "It seems Yūgao-sensei is still fond of handing out homework assignments."

"She just wants us to be prepared Maya-chan." said Hinata in a pleasant tone. Both girls heard Naruto's stomach roar about that time and Hinata added, "Let's get some lunch and head over to the giant birthday cake, er….library.

"I'm up for that Hinata-chan!" announced Naruto happily.

After eating at Ichiraku's Ramen the three went over to the Ninja section of the Library and started going through the books on Tea Country….

 **Tea Country, the Village of Hekison**

In the remote little Village of Hekison was a small Shinto shrine with the elderly Priestess Midori, her granddaughter Mana who was a Miko and her fellow Miko Minami Natsuko. Mana came over to her friend and said, "I hope you'll return to visit us soon Natsuko-chan. It's going to be a bit lonely without you here at the shrine although I can't help but be a bit envious that High Priest Wataru-sama picked you out of so many candidates from Tea Country."

Natsuko** stood up which made her sizable cleavage bounce under her rather snug traditional red and white Miko outfit. She was a beautiful, fair skinned young woman with long black hair and violet eyes and wielded a naginata. Right now her hair was down although she often wore it in a ponytail. She had an aura of gentleness and seemed very proper. Turning to her friend Natsuko said innocently, "I honestly have no idea why great Waturu-sama picked me out in the crowd and said I was truly enlightened. Perhaps his faith allows him to see things others cannot. It seems like I just arrived here in Hekison Village yesterday and now I'm leaving again." Natsuko added the last part forlornly.

"When you arrived last spring I never dreamed you'd become a Miko." said Mana kindly. "You were a refugee and we figured you'd be here a week or two while you recovered your health. Having you here this last year has been like having the big sister I always wanted to have. I hate to see you go. The whole village adores you after all."

Natsuko smiled. "You and Midori-sama have been so kind to me Mana-chan. I had to pay you both back for letting me stay here. I guess we'll just have to see what the future holds. I have a feeling that I'm going to miss the peaceful days here."

The two Mikos soon got back to work cleaning the shrine….

 **Fire Country, 5 A.M. Konoha's South Gate**

Team 11 walked from the Natsume Clan home and arrived at the South Gate at the same time Yūgao arrived via body flicker. "Everyone set?" asked Yūgao. Seeing her students all answer in the affirmative Team 11 stopped and signed out with the Gate Guards and went on their way at ninja speeds for several hours before they stopped for lunch on the road. Yūgao watched with satisfaction as her team unsealed their supplies and set up a well concealed camp to have some lunch. As they were quietly eating rice balls and miso soup, Yūgao asked, "What can you tell me about Tea Country's geography?" as she pointed at Maya.

Maya answered, "Tea Country is a peninsula which only is only bordered by Fire Country on land. It is primarily forests and mountains with most of its larger settlements on the coasts which are often ports or fishing villages."

Yūgao nodded. She motioned to Naruto and said, "Tell me about it politically Naruto."

Pausing between bites Naruto said, "Tea Country is ruled by a Daimyo but most of the country is ruled by crime lords on a local level. Not all of them are corrupt but many are. Nominally they all owe allegiance to the Tea Daimyo and he wields the power to disband a corrupt clan although it seems he does this very rarely. It seems like a very delicate system and that's probably why they have no ninja village and just have local militias."

"Good." said Yūgao. "Hinata, who do they rely on for ninjas?"

"They mainly rely on Konoha for ninjas and Fire Country in general for military support." said Hinata. "Their trade economy is at least fifty percent tied to Fire Country as well though they trade with many other nations and villages through their sea ports. "They've been known to employ other ninjas as well but generally don't due to the pro Fire Country economy. It would be bad for business if we were to take our trade elsewhere. Their other major trading partner is Sea Country but they are in no position to send military support to Tea so regardless Fire Country is their main source for ninjas."

"Any other comments?" asked Yūgao.

Maya said, "If a ninja village did appear in Tea Country they would potentially have enough power to rule it which is another reason the Daimyo of Tea prefers to get ninjas from outside because they are safely at arm's length."

"You three did well." said Yūgao brightly. "Another thing you might need to know is the only other ninja village available to help them in large numbers is Kiri but they would have to sail to Tea Country which is much more expensive than our land route. We could still run into Kiri Ninjas though. They really aren't our allies but they aren't our enemies either so treat them diplomatically and with respect."

As they finished lunch and cleared all evidence they'd be camping their Yūgao said, "We're going to continue at ninja speeds until dinner. Depending on where we are at that point we'll either make camp or stay at an inn if a reasonably priced one is in a nearby village."

 **Hidden camp along the Fire Country/Tea Country border**

The missing nins of the _infamous_ Bonkura Clan were plotting the downfall of a certain kunoichi….They were also identical quintuplets….and telling the brothers apart was impossible…. They even wore name tags to tell each other apart.

"She's supposed a really dangerous kunoichi that our employer wants dead." said Ichiro.

Jiro asked, "But how are we supposed to identify her brother? All our description says is she's crossing the border and is really sexy."

"It's simple stupid. All we have to do is jump any well armed hot babe we see." retorted Saburo.

"You're the stupid one!" shouted Shiro. "What if we see a _bunch_ of hot chicks that are armed to the teeth?"

"Then we beat _all_ of them up and capture them so we can drag the information our client has about her out." said Goro.

Jiro nodded eagerly. "Oh, I see! Once we find the right one we off her and then let the others go, no hard feelings."

"Just remember she's supposed to be a total badass. She's like….ANBU level or something." said Ichiro with a cringe.

Saburo muttered, "That can't be good…."

"Have some confidence boys, even a chick that was Kage level would be no match for us….except Kaa-san of course…." said Goro in a haunted voice.

"If Kaa-san ever catches us we're dead men…." said Shiro.

"That's why we had to run away from Grass Country and become missing nins to begin with brothers!" exclaimed Ichiro.

" _Kaa-san is scary_ …." they all said in unison.

….So what did the five Bonkura brothers all have in common? Well, they all feared their Mother obviously. They each had a matching stubby short sword to match their four stubby limbs. The Bonkuras were quite stout being about five feet tall and four feet wide. On top of their broad shoulders sat thick necks with smaller heads that got them the hated nickname of 'The Amazing Human Mole Brothers' while they were growing up. They each sported a brown comb-over having gone bald at young age. But what they lacked in looks they made up with brains….What they lacked in brains they made up with brawn and….what they lacked in brawn, brains and looks (that they incidentally inherited from their Mother) they made up with numbers.

The Bonkura brother's ninja way could be summed up in the phrase ' _quantity over quality_ ' and these five not so lean, mean fighting machines were gearing up to ambush their target….Assuming they could figure out who the target was of course….

 _After all, how many well armed hot babes would you run into at the border between Tea Country and Fire Country?_

 **South Fire Country, 7 P.M.**

Team 11's initial idea was to press on a little further but a bad thunderstorm dashed all hopes of travelling across the narrow southern passage towards Tea Country border that evening. As a result Team 11 set up camp in the forest Naruto created a small four point seal to project a pyramid of chakra over them to keep the rain out. Yūgao marveled at her student's ingenuity with seals once again as she helped pitch the tents with Hinata while Maya built a fire.

They ate quietly as the evening chill set in due to the storm. Yūgao said, "Once the storms pass in the morning we'll get underway. Between the forest canopy and the chakra shield we're nice and dry. We also have plenty of fuel for the fire so we should be plenty warm tonight. Good job everybody."

"I'm just glad we didn't push on during the storm." said Hinata. "We have about twenty miles of open plains to cross once we clear this forested area. I think we all would have ended up looking like drowned rats if we'd pressed on."

Maya nodded. "I agree Hinata-chan. I'm thankful this mission isn't that time sensitive or we would have had to cross regardless."

"We'll get there when we get there." said Yūgao. "We've made good time so far and I doubt our client is going to leave Hekison Village on a whim. Generally Mikos aren't known for their wild behavior anyway."

"Have you ever been to Hekison Village before sensei?" asked Naruto.

Yūgao shook her head 'no' as thunder cracked overhead. "I've never even _heard_ of Hekison Village. We have a map and it's near Heiya Village which is a bit of a crossroads at the southern tip of Tea Country. I figure we can get exact directions there."

Team 11 finished eating and decided to settle in for the night. In this kind of a storm they seriously doubted anything would be active but took shifts as sentries regardless.

 **Tea Country, the Village of Hekison**

It was late evening and the Hekison Shrine was closed up for the night. Natsuko was in the back of the shrine sharpening and polishing her naginata to a deadly, perfect edge. She held it up in the moonlight and tested it with a piece of hair that split under its own weight as it floated down from above the gleaming blade. After making sure that both Midori-sama and Mana-chan were fast asleep Natsuko went out into the back courtyard and spun her naginata above her head expertly and went through an impressive set of katas culminating in a deadly dance of flashing blades in the moonlight. ' _I have to be ready for anything….After the Konoha Ninjas arrive I'll never be able to return here again….It is my duty.'_ Then she smiled sharply _. 'Wait for me Wataru-sama_ ….'

After another hour of practice Natsuko took a good bath in the purifying waters of the falls behind the shrine and called it a night….

 **Fire Country/Tea Country Border**

It was mid morning and Team 11 was making good time. As soon as the storms blew over in the morning they were on the move again. "I see the border station ahead sensei; I'll take point." said Hinata as she moved to the front position.

Yūgao watched as her team flawlessly adjusted their formation. ' _They know each other even better than I realized. Hanako-sama has trained them well. All three of them move together seamlessly. I'm glad I have this team now_.' "Slow down once we get within a hundred yards of the border station Hinata. We need to approach at a slow pace to show we aren't hostile." Yūgao heard Hinata acknowledge the order and the group came to a halt a little bit short of one hundred yards from the station. Walking at a normal pace and keeping their hands visible Yūgao took the lead and approached the guard station with her passport in hand.

"I'm Uzuki Yūgao and this is my genin team. We are under orders to escort a Miko from Hekison Village in the South back to the Fire Capital so she may serve as a priestess there. Here are my mission papers." said the purple haired jonin as she handed the papers over to the guard on duty.

The guard slowly went through Team 11's passports and the mission statement. "Everything appears to be in order Uzuki-san. Let me get my captain to sign off on this and I'll get you passage."

Within ten minutes each of them had an additional form to carry with their passports showing they had free passage in Tea Country by the grace of the Tea Daimyo. "Welcome to Tea Country." said the guard. "I hope you visit goes smoothly Konoha Ninja." After that the guard station gates opened and Team 11 entered Tea Country….

 **Formerly hidden camp along the Fire Country/Tea Country border**

The Bonkura brothers got a bit unlucky and missed out on any border crossings during the morning hours….

"I can't believe that massive storm caused a flash flood! We damn near downed last night!" said Goro.

Shiro nodded in agreement. "Too true brother. That flood washed us and all of our camping equipment straight into the river."

"Well, since we were washed twenty miles downriver we weren't able to maintain our watch for hours." moaned Saburo miserably.

"More importantly we lost all our camping gear!" whined Jiro.

Ichiro said in a placating tone, "Once our client pays us we can buy all new gear."

"That's true. Once we eliminate our target we'll be rich!" said Jiro giddily.

"We'll succeed through our iron discipline and never ending vigilance men." said Goro in an inspiring tone. "No one will get past us. That's what we Bonkuras live by."

The five brothers cheered.

 _Too bad they missed every border crossing throughout the night and all the way into the afternoon_ ….

 **Tea Country, Village of Heiya**

Team 11 entered the Village of Heiya after travelling at a moderated pace for three days. Yūgao figured that since there wasn't a big hurry she could educate them on the sites and show them how to interact as they were foreigners here. She also mentioned confidentially that she and the Fukui Crime family had some bad blood from her ANBU days but that shouldn't be an issue given they never saw her without her mask. Still, the three genins of Team 11 were to be on guard if the Fukui family was involved and they were a major influence in the region of Heiya.

Heiya Village had changed a lot since Yūgao had been here years ago. "The last time I was here Heiya Village was a trading crossroads and a watering hole more than anything. It had a trading post and a couple of hundred people tops." said Yūgao as she and her genins looked around at the sprawling village. "I'd guess it is ten times the size it was then. Someone has been funneling some _major_ investment money into this place." Wandering into the market district Yūgao noted the Fukui Clan Crest was adorning all of the public buildings. ' _Looks like the Fukui Clan managed to drive out their competitors_.' she thought.

Wandering over to the trading center (a large and modern building rather than the little wooden one Yūgao remembered) they were accosted by salesmen of all sorts wanting to sell everything from jewelry to cattle to narcotics. The three genins were a bit overwhelmed but their sensei guided them through without any incident. Coming up to the exchange desk Yūgao said to the teller, "I'd like a map of the general area where all the small local villages are. I'm a little lost because I haven't been here in a few years."

The teller said, "I'd go to the bar and ask for directions then. There are so many little backwater villages in these parts you'll probably need to hire a guide." He pointed at the wall behind him to a nondescript map that showed larger towns in the area involved in trade. "I can sell you a copy of that but I figure you Konoha ninjas already have that much."

Looking at the map on the wall team 11 couldn't help but agree that they already had that information. Yūgao sighed. ' _Well, nothing is ever easy_.' "All right sir, thank you for your time and advice. Let's go you three."

After Team 11 walked around a bit they found out that most guides hung out at a large bar/brothel known as **_The Sleazy Skank_**. "Oh god, this just has bad news written all over it with a name like that." said Naruto as they walked up to the place.

"You three stay out here. I'll deal with this." said Yūgao as she entered the bar leaving her three charges outside. "Stay out of trouble." She warned them. Hinata, Maya and Naruto all nodded.

 **Inside The Sleazy Skank** ….

Yūgao wanted to cover her nose. ' _Okay, this place smells like booze, smoke and cheap perfume. Time to look for a guide_.'

She quietly started asking around for a guide until she heard the voice she dreaded hearing. "My quest for the **_perfect ass_** is finally complete!" said a man in a white suit emerging from the crowd. He was Fukui Ito, the heir to the Fukui family….and the last person Yūgao ever wanted to see again this lifetime….and he was headed straight towards her….

 **Outside** ….

"Hey there handsome! Looking for a good time?" Naruto cringed as a girl that looked to be about ten years old in a Gothic Lolita outfit sashayed up to him.

Hinata and Maya normally would have been very angry but this miniature prostitute and the stricken look on their boyfriend's face was priceless. The girls decided to take pity on Naruto after a couple of minutes and rescue him but they suddenly heard from behind them, "You two must be the new girls! Yum, yum. Very nice; very nice indeed….I can't wait to sample the goods." Maya and Hinata turned around and blanched as they saw an old pimp in a purple dress suit and white wingtip shoes with all kinds of jewelry that was old enough to be their Grandfather. He was eyeing them with unabashed lust….and Maya and Hinata were speechless and in shock….

 **With Yūgao** ….

' _OH GOD NO! It's him!_ ' thought Yūgao in horror and disgust. Her mind reeled as she went through the facts in her mind. ' _Fukui Ito. Age: mid twenties by now. Used to getting anything he wants since he's the heir to the Fukui family. Masochist that enjoys being hit. On a long quest in life to find the_ _ **perfect ass**_ _and presumably marry the woman who has it. The last person he found with said ass was a Konoha ANBU codenamed Neko who gave him a brutal beating for attempting to gratuitously fondle her rear. Since it got him off he ordered the entire Fukui family to capture her leading to a narrow escape by Neko and her team five years ago. Kami help me through this_.'

As Yūgao was going through all the facts in her head Ito drifted over to her and said, "Your body is like a temple my dear, let me worship at your altar."

Yūgao cringed and turned to him while saying in a flat tone, "Services are closed for the month so you should leave." ' _Did he_ _ **actually**_ _use that incredibly bad pick up line?_ '

" _Hohoho!_ You are so witty my dear." said Ito. "I haven't seen such perfection since my first true love, Neko-chan. Let me buy you a drink…."

' _Oh please god, help me_ ….' thought the purple haired jonin.

 **Outside** ….

Naruto said gently, "Ummm….I think you should go home little lady, I really don't think you should be in a place like this."

"Nonsense! I'm Momo and I'm seventeen sugar. I'm _more_ than enough woman for you….I'll give you a night you'll _never_ forget. I can just _tell_ you have a thing for me." she said batting her eyelashes. "I'll give you a discount because you're sexy with those whisker tattoos."

' _Uggghhh….I've never felt so awkward in my life. I'm being hit on by a flat chested, four foot tall hooker wannabe_.' thought Naruto.

"You know you want it baby." said Momo as she took a coquettish pose. "You like what you see?"

Naruto's only thought at this point was, ' _I'm in hell_.'

 **With Maya and Hinata** ….

The two young kunoichis were dusting their hands off in a nearby alley. Behind them was a dumpster with a pair of legs clad in purple dress pants wearing white wingtip shoes sticking out of it. "Well, that takes care of that Maya-chan." said Hinata sounding rather pleased with herself.

"Indeed it does Hinata-chan." agreed Maya who also sounded pleased. "Let's go rescue Naruto-kun from that miniature whore." Coming around the corner they saw Naruto stepping back as Momo pressed forward. When they heard Momo say something about being Naruto's ' _jailbait baby_ ' they quickly pulled poor Momo back in the alley, knocked her out and threw her in the same dumpster with the old pimp.

Naruto said "T-thank you girls." _Apparently the great Uzumaki Naruto could stare death in the face and laugh but Gothic Lolita's scared the hell out of him_ ….

About the time they got back to the entrance of **_The Sleazy Skank_** they heard a commotion inside and a man in an elegant white business suit was being hauled out on a makeshift stretcher. "Clear the way, Ito-sama is really, really sick!" cried a man. "Let's get him to a doctor!" The stench of bowels permeated the air and the back of Fukui Ito's pants were _badly_ stained….

The three genins stepped aside and about ten minutes later Yūgao came out with a smirk on her face and barely contained glee dancing in her brown eyes. ' _Poison is a wonderful thing. It won't kill him but he'll be sick in the bathroom for a week. They'll think it's dysentery. I'll have to thank Anko for this._ ' She turned to her genins who were all standing at attention. "No trouble…?" she asked.

"Nothing we couldn't handle sensei." said Maya.

Yūgao nodded. "Good, good. I have our guide right here." she said as she held up a black book. "Let's get out of this town."

Her three genins couldn't have agreed more as they all blew out of town at ninja speeds.

POSTSCRIPT:

**Minami Natsuko's appearance is based upon the characters Himejima Akeno from _High School DxD_ and Kiribayashi Azumi from _Real Bout High School_. They both have Miko outfits, both are well endowed (per Wataru-sama's ideas of 'enlightenment'), fair skinned and have long black hair.

The Land of Tea Arc should be fairly short although it may have repercussions later. Between the Fukui Clan and the Bonkura brothers Team 11 already has two potential problems (that are perhaps connected) and they haven't even made it to their client yet. What else awaits them in Tea Country? See you next time. Blue out. 9/17/15


	27. Chapter 27

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

As stated in my other stories I've posted recently, I got a bit sidetracked with my new story, _Ice Burn_ which is a Naruto/Freezing crossover for those with interest in it. Since some have asked, my three main stories, _Dragon's Maw, Magik_ and _Curse of the Ryugan_ will still take precedence and will be updated regularly. _Ice Burn_ will be kind of like my story _Journey to Lyonesse_ and will be updated as time permits. That being said, here is chapter 27:

Last time:

 _About the time they got back to the entrance of_ _ **The Sleazy Skank**_ _they heard a commotion inside and a man in an elegant white business suit was being hauled out on a makeshift stretcher. "Clear the way, Ito-sama is really, really sick!" cried a man. "Let's get him to a doctor!" The stench of bowels permeated the air and the back of Fukui Ito's pants were_ _badly_ _stained…._

 _The three genins stepped aside and about ten minutes later Yūgao came out with a smirk on her face and barely contained glee dancing in her brown eyes. '_ _Poison is a wonderful thing. It won't kill him but he'll be sick in the bathroom for a week. They'll think it's dysentery. I'll have to thank Anko for this_ _.' She turned to her genins who were all standing at attention. "No trouble…?" she asked._

 _"Nothing we couldn't handle sensei." said Maya._

 _Yūgao nodded. "Good, good. I have our guide right here." she said as she held up a black book. "Let's get out of this town."_

 _Her three genins couldn't have agreed more as they all blew out of town at ninja speeds._

 **Chapter 27**

 **Tea Country, Forest**

Team 11 didn't stop moving until they were several miles clear of Heiya Village. Their collective thought was, ' _I'm never setting a foot inside that town again; those people are demented!_ '

Yūgao got out the small map book and said, "Hekison Village is about sixty miles east of here as the crow flies. The only real path up to it is a zigzag set of trails up in the mountains that are very isolated. From what I understand the only reason people go up there is the shrine and some sort of sacred pool. It's little more than a dot on the map. It should be an easy enough trip despite the terrain. Let's break for lunch. Heiya Village was a bit stressful."

Naruto flopped down looking a bit harried. "Yes sensei; I'd just as soon avoid that village on the way back if we can."

"I agree with Naruto-kun one hundred percent on that." said Hinata as she unpacked some food.

Their sensei nodded wondering why they reacted so strongly….not that she was complaining or anything. "What is your opinion Maya?"

Maya swallowed a drink of tea and said, "For the sake of our client who is a miko I believe it would be best to stay away from Heiya Village. It would be too corrupt for a priestess' tastes and she might end up in a position inappropriate for someone of her standing."

The group was just settling down to eat when Naruto and Hinata saw a gleam from behind their sensei. Hinata froze but Naruto yelled, "Hit the dirt!" as he tackled Hinata to the ground and shoved Maya back. I the same instant Yūgao dived clear. An exploding tag attached to an arrow hit their campfire and detonated at the same time throwing up an enormous amount of smoke and dust in the forest. Hinata coughed and activated her byakugan to look through the dust in silence. She saw eight missing nins armed with swords arriving on the scene. One of them was putting away a bow that obviously was the source of the exploding tag. ' _Yūgao-sensei, Maya-chan and I are roughed up but okay_.' Looking down with tears in her eyes she saw Naruto was badly hurt and his right arm was mangled. He was bleeding profusely. Had she not had the byakugan to see his strong heartbeat Hinata might have mistaken him for dead….

….Which is exactly what Maya did. As the dust cleared she saw Naruto's bloodied body lying there lifelessly in Hinata's arms as the Hyūga heiress cried quietly. Maya screamed " ** _NARUTO-KUN!_** " in anguish as hot tears streamed from her eyes.

Maya heard a gruff male voice say, "Well, at least we got one out of the four." Maya turned to the voice and saw a motley group of missing nin's standing there at the edge of the clearing. Maya drew the Reiki from her squatting position on the ground. All of her sadness and anguish were channeled into white hot rage and the nin's saw her smile insanely through a bleeding lip before she vanished in a replacement jutsu.

The nin's were all distracted by Maya's outburst and Yūgao sized up the situation in an instant. She wasn't sure if Naruto was dead or just injured but she knew Maya _thought_ he was dead and went berserk as a result. Hinata seemed to be in control of herself and the former ANBU decided to gamble that her precious students could fight on their own. They were too spread out to effectively regroup and the purple haired sword mistress thought to herself, ' _I'm going to take the offensive with Maya-chan. I'll trust Hinata-chan to take care of Naruto-kun_. _Naruto-kun, you'd better live damn it!_ ' With that Yūgao also vanished using a body flicker.

 _With Hinata_ ….

Hinata wanted to heal Naruto if she could (or at least set the bones in his arm) but instead she got up and prepared to fight as two of the missing nin's headed towards her. One had a narrow jian type sword and the other much larger one ahead of him had a broadsword. Hinata assumed her modified gentle fist stance and nailed the larger one with several strikes before the jian user said, "She's a Hyūga man! Get back and use your sword only, not taijutsu!" Unfortunately for him his big friend had already been nailed and stumbled to the ground in pain with several chakra points closed. The smaller man drew his jian and said, "I've always wanted to fight one of you white-eyed freaks. I am a _master_ of the blade. Without your hands being able to reach me you're nothing! "

Hinata was looking at both her opponents at once through her byakugan. The one with the broadsword was writhing in agony on the ground and was out of commission for the moment. (Groin shots hurt). Turning her attention to the jian user who was spinning his blade artistically to intimidate her with his ' _awesome_ ' skills; Hinata shrugged and drew her Hakutsume blades in silence. The arrogant jian user gawked and then said, " _That's not fair!_ You Hyūga's _always_ use tiajutsu _only!_ "

Adopting her Grandmother Hanako's cold demeanor Hinata said frostily, "Life isn't fair and neither am I. You all will suffer for hurting my friends." The jian user looked like he was about to throw a hissy fit because of her using swords but the two snow white kodachis were coming at him at breakneck speeds so he had to defend himself….

 _With Maya_ ….

While Hinata engaged her two foes defensively; Maya was raining hell on two opponents with extreme aggression away from the clearing. She had her sights on the one with the bow that launched the exploding tag. He also had a nodachi. With him was another missing nin wielding a katana. Seeing her crazed blue eyes and shivering at her killing intent the two were taken off guard as she axe kicked the katana user and shattered his right collar bone. He cried out and stumbled back. Roundhouse kicking him out of the way ruthlessly the Natsume heiress immediately engaged the nodachi wielder in a fearsome sword duel with the Reiki, nodachi verses nodachi. The man had an obvious edge in strength but Maya had and edge in both speed and agility. In spite of her enraged state Maya had iron discipline pounded into her with the use of the Reiki and was gradually slicing her opponent up with great precision.

Finally the nodachi wielder realized his katana using friend wasn't going to be able to aid him. With a feral roar he pushed Maya back and went for a brutal overhead strike the he was sure would shatter the silver haired beauty's defenses. However, instead of attempting to block or parry the overwhelming strike Maya flipped upwards and out of the range of the blow. The nodachi ate nothing but dirt and the swordsman was left baffled as Maya landed gracefully on the flat end of his nodachi blade and had it pinned to the ground. The man's eyes widened in terror and he cried out, " _Wait!_ " as Maya drove the Reiki strait through his heart effortlessly with a vicious smile etched on her face. A gout of blood flew out of his mouth as Maya twisted the blade and used chakra to rip it out of the dying man as he fell to his knees in his death throes.

Hearing the katana user moving behind her Maya flipped off the dying nodachi user's blade as she avoided a weak one armed slash from the injured man. He groaned in pain from the movement as Maya landed behind him with catlike grace and spun with the Reiki in a horizontal slash that took the wounded man's head off in a textbook example of decapitation. Staring at the death she'd wrought for a split second; the Natsume heiress started scanning the battlefield for more targets….

 _With Yūgao_ ….

A distance away in the forest Yūgao found herself facing three swordsmen armed with chokutos she'd drawn away from the others. The three were clearly very teamwork oriented. They had Rain Country headbands with a scratch through them and she wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't been a genin team together considering how well they moved in synch. She had to give these missing nin's their due. They were quite good and she gauged them all at being chunin level in experience. "To bad we have to kill such a hot woman." commented one of them.

"Yes it's a shame to destroy such a beautiful body." said the second.

The third added, "And such a pretty face too; such a waste."

' _So they distract their opponents by carrying on each other's sentences; very interesting_ ….' thought Yūgao. ' _Time to end this_.' "Dance of the Crescent Moon!" she said. Two shadow clones of Yūgao sprang into existence and the three chokuto wielders suddenly found themselves assaulted from three sides. Though the technique was designed to overwhelm a single strong opponent with multiple attacks it worked admirably as the three weaker swordsmen quickly had their lives ended by the unexpected offensive. As the dead chokuto users hit the ground the two shadow clones vanished and Yūgao flicked the blood off of her katana before she sheathed it. ' _I need to see how my team is doing. I've taken out three but they could still be in real danger_.' thought the purple haired kunoichi as she shot back towards the clearing where the ambush took place….

 _With Hinata_ ….

The jian user was good and would have ordinarily dominated a kodachi user but Hinata wasn't using ordinary kodachis or an ordinary style which had the arrogant jian user confounded and angry. What made him even angrier was the look of cold indifference etched on Hinata's beautiful face. The jian user hated that look more and more as she glided through his lethal strikes and didn't seem to even be paying attention to him. He was _always_ at the center of attention. It was absolutely _infuriating!_ Finally he got sloppy using a single left handed block and lost three fingers on his right hand as a result. He screamed, " _God damn you fucking bitch! I'll kill you for this!_ " Blood sprayed from the stumps where his three fingers had been.

Hinata swung her blades back into a defensive position. "You are too arrogant." she said quietly.

" _TOO ARROGANT?! I am a_ _ **master**_ _swordsman little girl!_ " Seeing his broadsword wielding partner was getting back up he laughed maniacally and yelled, "It's over you brat!" and he charged her.

Hinata saw the other man getting up too and channeled chakra into the Hakutsume blades. ' _I need to finish this one with the jian_.' she thought to herself. The jian user charged headlong in order to force Hinata back towards his friend. They exchanged several blows and he was cackling gleefully until he noticed something was terribly wrong. Ghostly, chakra images of Hinata's blades extended out another foot from the blades themselves and he stared in open horror at his sliced open gut as his intestines fell out. He dropped his jian and used his good hand to make a futile effort to pull his innards back in.

Falling back on her training under Hanako; Hinata quickly stabbed a blade between the man's eyes and ended him forever….

….

 _Red eyes angrily sparked to life_. The broadsword wielding missing nin had just gotten back up from Hinata's earlier gentle fist attack and he saw Naruto rise like something undead growling in anger. "Aren't you dead?!" asked the nin in shock. The bloodied Naruto answered with a crushing foot to the man's stomach as he drew Kurimuzo and lashed out drawing blood from the nin's left shoulder before the missing nin could roll clear of the slice meant to cleave off his head. Kurimuzo glowed gleefully as it tasted human blood for the first time in centuries. It became enshrouded in red chakra as the seals on it awoke from their long slumber. The missing nin was shocked was a narrow rivulet of blood started streaming continuously from his deep shoulder wound to the seemingly demonic wakizashi in Naruto's hand while the bleeding from Naruto's body seemed to be slowing down.

Naruto felt the power of Kurimuzo feeding his body with chakra as it channeled through him and directly into Shippuuhime. Feeling his right arm was now mended Naruto unsheathed the Shippuuhime and saw it was also glowing but was enshrouded blue chakra. Wordlessly Naruto forced the chakra to the leading edge of Shippuuhime's blade and it unleashed an expanding blade of wind. The missing nin tried to block with his broadsword. The broadsword was scored deeply by the wind blade and a second later Shippuuhime cut through the damaged broadsword like butter.

Within a millisecond the missing nin tried to dive away seeing his weapon demolished but the wind blade cleaved his torso in half diagonally from his neck to his waistline before he could react. A look of disbelief and horror were etched onto the missing nin's face as he saw his remaining blood soaked up like a sponge into Kurimuzo and the light left his eyes. Naruto felt sick at this spectacle but didn't give the corpse a second glance because a battle was still going on. Naruto's eyes faded back to blue and he hissed, "Son of a bitch….your friends will soon be in hell with you." Then the blonde ninja turned to join Hinata and the others in battle.

….

Hinata had just finished her opponent when she saw Naruto destroy his simultaneously. She also saw both Maya and Yūgao-sensei returning. Sheathing her kodachis Hinata turned to Naruto. "Are you alright Naruto-kun? You were badly hurt."

Naruto nodded. "I'll be fine in a little bit Hinata-chan. How many more are there?"

The Hyūga heiress expanded her field of vision. "One enemy swordsman is fleeing to the west but Yūgao-sensei and Maya-chan are coming back quickly. I don't think we should pursue without Yūgao-sensei's input first. Besides, you need to fully heal Naruto-kun. It may be better to just continue our mission."

Maya came into view and saw Naruto was standing. Tears of joy rushed down her cheeks as she raced over and kissed him passionately and cried, "Naruto-kun; you're okay! Thank the gods!"

It was to this scene of Naruto and Maya in a passionate lip lock that Yūgao came into the clearing. ' _Well, I guess that settles it, those two are involved and_ -" That's when she saw Hinata gently turn Naruto and also give him a loving kiss; tongue and all. ' _Now wait just a minute! I-_ ' Then the three advanced genins hugged each other closely. ' _I really feel a headache coming on_ ….' thought Yūgao morosely as she came into the clearing. ' _I love Naruto-kun like a little brother but I believe a good beating from Neko-nee-chan may be in order…._ _ **after**_ _I make sure he's alright_.'

"Report!" yelled Yūgao as she made her presence known to her three students. They sprang apart and Hinata said, "Seven of the eight missing nins which attacked us are dead. Maya-chan killed two, Naruto-kun and I slew one each and you put down three. The remaining one is retreating rapidly to the west."

"What are your conditions?" asked the former ANBU. "It's obvious Naruto is hurt. Have you calmed down Maya? You obviously lost it back there."

Maya looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry Yūgao-sensei; I thought Naruto-kun was killed….I; I couldn't bear it!" She burst into tears and held on to Naruto's less injured left side.

Yūgao could see the emotional exhaustion in the silver haired girl's eyes. Sighing, Yūgao thought, ' _They're still so young_ ….' "Alright, Naruto-kun is still injured no matter how fine he says he is and the adrenaline rush has run out for Maya-chan, she's exhausted. Hinata-chan, How much chakra do you have?"

"I have about half sensei." answered Hinata.

"Well, that's about all I have left." said Yūgao. "We're in no position to pursue our enemy so our best option is to continue on our mission and cover our tracks. We'll be taking a different route on the way back. Now which of you three can tell me the best way to hide our tracks?"

All three advanced genins said morosely, "We destroy the bodies."

"And given they're missing nins; what do we do before we dispose of them?" asked their sensei.

"We cut off their heads to collect the bounties and strip the remains of anything useful to Konoha." droned her students.

Yūgao nodded. "That is correct; after we check ourselves over for injuries let's all eat some rations and have some water to replenish our bodies before we get to work. That way if you throw up you won't waste any real food."

The group of four hunkered down out of sight and ate in silence before they got to the grisly work of stripping the bodies. By some minor miracle none of the genins threw up although they all looked rather green afterwards. Yūgao taught them an earth jutsu to hide the bodies deep although she didn't have them use it and took care of that herself. Naruto sealed up all of the seven heads and all three genins had to behead the ones they'd killed. In the eyes of a normal fresh genin this would have been too much but Yūgao was not going to sugarcoat ninja life for them. Considering they did all this without complaint and did it well; the former ANBU was very proud of her students….

 **Konoha, Natsume Clan Home**

Hanabi was finishing doing some calligraphy practice. Aya had arrived from the Ninja Academy a couple of hours ago and went to soak in the Natsume Family hot springs. That had been quite a while ago….Hanabi wondered if her adoptive nee-chan had fallen asleep in the springs and activated her byakugan to see if Aya was all right or if she needed to wake Aya up. Looking, the younger Hyūga sister saw Aya seemed to have her head lolling back and forth disturbingly and had chakra streaming to her eyes much like the byakugan….Only, Aya didn't have the byakugan.

Sensing something was very wrong Hanabi jumped up and ran over towards the hot springs. Natsu saw her young charge dash by and wondered why she was running inside the house. Following after her, Natsu said, "Hanabi-sama slow down! It is unseemly to be running around the house this way for a Lady of your stature."

Hanabi stopped and turned back to Natsu with a glare in her eyes. "Something is wrong with Aya nee-chan! She's in the hot springs and I'm going to help her!" With a frown on her cute face Hanabi said, "And you are coming with me Natsu-san! Let's go!"

Natsu was puzzled but using her byakugan she saw something was indeed wrong with Aya. Rushing into the hot springs a minute later Natsu and Hanabi saw Aya seemed delirious and her eyes were slitted and glowing red. Natsu gasped, "Is this the ryugan?"

Hanabi jumped in the hot springs clothes and all and shook Aya. "Aya nee-chan, snap out of it!"

Aya blinked in her dreamlike state and said, "H-Hanabi-chan, is that you?"

"Of course it's me Aya nee-chan!" said Hanabi panicked. "Your eyes are glowing and your chakra is really low. Stop channeling chakra to your eyes!"

"Chakra in my eyes?" asked Aya absentmindedly. "I don't know how that happened. I'm so tired…."

Hanabi turned to Natsu who was standing there concerned and said, "Help me get her out of the water Natsu-san! She's really out of it!"

Soon the two Hyūgas managed to pull Aya up onto the floor and got a towel on her. "This is bad." said Natsu. "She is bordering on chakra exhaustion. Hanako-sama is out and we need to do something. Aya-sama, can you hear me?" she asked the delirious girl. Aya just laid there muttering out of her head. Seeing the ryugan was rapidly draining Aya's chakra Natsu said, "I hate to do this but better a headache later than dead now. Stand back Hanabi-sama, I'm going to close the chakra points above her eyes."

Hanabi stood back a step and watched as Natsu delicately tapped the chakra points above Aya's eyes and they faded from red back to Aya's normal brown. "Owww….What happened? Why does my head hurt?" asked Aya irritably. Hanabi and Natsu both let out a sigh of relief seeing Aya coherent.

"Aya nee-chan, you're alright!" said Hanabi. "You were talking crazy and wouldn't deactivate your eyes."

The younger Natsume sister tried to sit up and then groaned, "I'm so tired and weak; what's going on?" before she rested on her back again. "What about my eyes Hanabi-chan?"

Natsu said, "I believe you activated the ryugan Aya-sama. You couldn't seem to deactivate them and were delirious."

"No wonder I was seeing so many spirits…." muttered Aya. "Is that why my head hurts Natsu-san?" she asked tiredly.

"Forgive me, I had to close the chakra points above your eyes to deactivate the ryugan Aya-sama." said Natsu apologetically. "You were in danger of chakra exhaustion and your life would have been at risk otherwise."

Aya sighed, "I wish Maya nee-chan was here. I don't know much about using the ryugan. I wonder why it activated. Maya nee-chan has the family scrolls on the ryugan locked up tight."

Hanabi said, "Let's wait for Obaa-chan to get home Aya nee-chan. Maybe there's something she knows about the ryugan that will help."

Nodding tiredly Aya said, "I want to take a nap until Hanako Obaa-chan arrives."

"Let's get you dried off and then we'll get you to bed Aya-sama." suggested Natsu.

Within the hour Aya was sleeping peacefully in her bed in a sleeping yukata and both Hanabi and Natsu had changed into some dry clothing. Now they just had to wait for Hanako Obaa-chan to get home….

 **Tea Country, Forest**

Team 11 was exhausted. It was hours after destroying the evidence of their battle and a lot of travelling that they stopped and set up camp for the night. They hadn't made it to Hekison Village as planned and were all completely worn out. Naruto had numerous sealing barriers set up and they were all very much on guard against ambush all that night taking shifts in twos. Yūgao had a small talk with each of them individually in her tent about their first kills and was very supportive with each of the kids as they broke down in tears. Unsurprisingly, Hinata felt the worst but all three genins were (understandably) miserable about the matter and Yūgao knew that it would simply take time.

Yūgao was honestly shocked at the Kurimuzo apparently _drinking_ blood. From what Naruto described the blade drank the life essence of Naruto's opponent and converted it into chakra. The wakizashi then fed chakra through Naruto's body and charged the Shipuuhime as well as enhancing Naruto's already unbelievable regeneration. It was both creepy and fascinating to the sword mistress. She wondered what else Naruto's swords could do. The blonde ninja pretty much used the blades instinctually from what she could tell so they would need to study the blades carefully if he was to master them. They weren't considered legendary for nothing….

The purple haired sword mistress also considered talking to her three charges about the _exact_ nature of how they were involved romantically be decided it could wait until they got back to Konoha. If Naruto needed a beating then Yūgao would wait until it was safe to do so. Besides, all three advanced genins were emotionally spent. Yūgao didn't want them having sex on the job or anything but if they needed each other emotionally then it wouldn't be right to interfere. (That and she and Hayate had gotten carried away more than once having sex on missions when they were alone….they totally ruined a tent that way once….Getting her thoughts back on track; Yūgao pushed the thoughts of what she could be getting if Hayate-kun was here out of her head and settled into a light sleep until morning.

The rest of the night passed peacefully….

 **Konoha, Natsume Clan Home**

Hanako arrived home rather late. Since Tsunade was announced to become Hokage earlier this week Hanako had been going on a few more dates with Hiruzen. The elderly couple was bidding each other goodnight with a sweet kiss when Hanabi opened the door. Hanako raised an eyebrow and said, "Well good evening to you Hanabi-chan; a young lady such as yourself should be getting your beauty rest wouldn't you agree?"

Hanabi bowed formally and said, "Forgive me. Obaa-chan, Hokage-sama; I need your help and Natsu-san and I waited up for you."

Hiruzen and Hanako heard the seriousness in Hanabi's nine year old voice and the Hokage said, "Whatever is the matter child?"

Seeing a nod from her Grandmother in the darkness Hanabi said, "We think Aya nee-chan has activated her ryugan and it drained a lot of her chakra. Natsu-san and I were unable to find any way but closing the chakra points above her eyes in order to deactivate them since she doesn't seem to be able to activate or deactivate them on her own."

Hanako activated her own byakugan and saw Aya was sleeping peacefully with a mild case of chakra exhaustion. Natsu seemed to be on standby in the kitchen to listen in case Aya needed anything. "It seems Aya-chan is sleeping. Hiruzen, would you help…?"

Hiruzen smiled. "Of course I'll help; I insist."

"Let's head inside and see what we can do Hanabi-chan." said Hanako. She was a little surprised when Hanabi gave her a hug right then and there in front of Hiruzen. Hanako smiled gently and returned Hanabi's hug. "You've been really worried about Aya-chan haven't you?" Seeing Hanabi nod and tear up a little Hanako kneeled down and kissed her granddaughter's forehead and said, "Everything is going to be fine little one."

 _Two hours later_ ….

Hiruzen, Hanako and the recently drafted Jiraiya were standing in front of a concealed safe in the study that the exhausted Aya told them about as Jiraiya puzzled over a _colossal_ sealing array that kept it sealed shut and protected. Mito was sitting in the front room with Hanabi under the supervision of Natsu. Both little girls were dead asleep and snoring adorably as they leaned on each other on the couch.

Jiraiya yawned and looked up from the seal work on the safe tiredly. He turned around and said to Hiruzen and Hanako, "Sarutobi-sensei, Hanako-sama; this is an outstanding piece of work that Naruto has created. To make a long story short there isn't a chance in hell I can do to open this seal tonight. It will take some serious study. The seal matrixes are very complex and many are traps or false leads. I've already been shocked three times."

"What _do_ we know so far Jiraiya?" asked Hiruzen.

The toad sanin sighed. "There is a blood seal that I assume is keyed to the Natsume heiress' blood but in order to even get to it there's an advanced, multilayer chakra seal that is also attuned to her specific chakra. Even if we were able to get a blood sample of Maya's from Konoha hospital to fool the blood seal we couldn't use it to open the safe."

Hiruzen and Hanako both sweat dropped and Hiruzen said, "You know; there is such a thing as being _too_ good at what you do. This safe is probably more secure than ANBU headquarters or the Hokage Tower."

Hanako had her hand on her forehead as if to ward off an oncoming migraine. "I always encouraged Naruto-kun to excel but if it's completely out of Jiraiya's league then I wonder what the _true_ level of defense this house has."

"What do you mean Hanako-chan?" asked Hiruzen as Jiraiya nodded along in the background.

"What I mean Hiruzen-kun is Naruto has ten levels of security on this home." explained Hanako. "It is always at a minimum of level two unless deactivated so a wall could be taken down or the place remodeled or repaired. The highest I've ever seen it was level six and that trapped several ANBU inside and prevented them from body flickering out in or out because of a chakra shield. Every square inch of the walls, ceilings and floors has a seal or seals of some type. Most of them I'm not even aware of."

Jiraiya asked, "What about that chakra drainage seal that was used when you executed Danzo?"

The Hyūga matriarch just shook her head. "That's just one of the many ' _little_ ' traps that Naruto-kun set up as a defense for a family member to activate. He never actually said it but Naruto-kun implied that the full house defenses made that seem trivial by comparison."

"I'm at a loss for words." said Hiruzen in a harried voice.

"So am I." added Jiraiya with a sweat drop. "That chakra drainage seal was unbelievably effective…."

Hanako sighed. "Well, if it's any consolation Jiraiya, Naruto-kun _is_ the last Royal Uzumaki. That kind of brilliance with seals is in his blood. Even given that I believe Naruto-kun is beyond gifted though. If he'd grown up under the tutelage of _Uzu_ seal masters then think how incredible he'd be by now. All that he's done here has all been from reading and learning through experimentation and imagination. I'd say even by Uzu standards the boy would be renowned. Unfortunately that leaves us no closer to opening that safe and getting the ryugan scrolls."

About that time Aya drifted in tiredly with her yukata wrapped around her warmly. "Did you have any luck opening that safe Obaa-chan?" she asked sleepily.

"I'm afraid not Aya-chan." answered Hanako. "What are you doing up? You must be exhausted."

"I just wanted to see." said Aya as she rubbed her eyes sleepily. The girl sleepwalked around Jiraiya and moved to grab the handle to the safe. "Maya nee-chan says it turns up to the left."

Jiraiya said, "That handle may as well be cast as part of the door my dear. It won't budge."

' _CLICK_ '

There was a flash and the safe handle turned ninety degrees and the door to the safe opened silently the second Aya's fingers gripped it. Aya yawned. "I guess it must have been stuck Jiraiya-sama." She yawned again and said "Well, I'm going to go back to bed." She drifted out the way she'd come in as the three adults in the study stared in disbelief.

After Aya closed the door behind her there were a few seconds of silence before Jiraiya face faulted and cried with anime tears, "It's just like Kushina-chan's black box all over again!"

As Hiruzen comforted his blubbering student Hanako shook her head irritably and reached into the safe where a few unsealed scrolls were regarding the ryugan. Stifling a yawn of her own she closed the safe which once again made a ' _click_ ' sound and said, "Hiruzen, send Jiraiya home once he gets done sobbing. I'm taking these scrolls to the kitchen to read them. Join me when you're done with your brat." Then she stepped out of the study.

' _What a woman!_ ' thought Hiruzen to himself. "Calm down and stop being so dramatic Jiraiya-kun. It's not like somebody died or anything."

Jiraiya sniffled, "Only my pride as a seal master was brutally assassinated by a genius Uzumaki killer…."

Hiruzen just sighed. ' _Some things will never change_ ….'

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, mainly an action oriented chapter. I met my goal of getting a chapter of Curse of the Ryugan out here in October so I'm pleased about that. Yūgao's Team got blooded a lot sooner than she planned and are currently trying to get their heads level again after that experience. The Uzumaki Royal blades have also given us a peek at some of their hidden abilities. On the home front Aya has awakened the ryugan and Maya is away so it's up to Hanako and Hiruzen to puzzle things out for now. What does that portend? See you next time. Blue out. 10/29/15


	28. Chapter 28

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Life has been rather unkind lately and I'm searching for full time employment again and dealing with a bankruptcy so the random updates will continue for a while. It is very difficult to focus on anything with so much turmoil in real life. For those interested I've posted a Naruto fanfic challenge on my profile. It's one I'd like to do but I have too many stories going as it is. Now I present to you chapter 28:

Last time:

 _'_ _CLICK_ _'_

 _There was a flash and the safe handle turned ninety degrees and the door to the safe opened silently the second Aya's fingers gripped it. Aya yawned. "I guess it must have been stuck Jiraiya-sama." She yawned again and said "Well, I'm going to go back to bed." She drifted out the way she'd come in as the three adults in the study stared in disbelief._

 _After Aya closed the door behind her there were a few seconds of silence before Jiraiya face faulted and cried with anime tears, "It's just like Kushina-chan's black box all over again!"_

 _As Hiruzen comforted his blubbering student Hanako shook her head irritably and reached into the safe where a few unsealed scrolls were regarding the ryugan. Stifling a yawn of her own she closed the safe which once again made a '_ _click_ _' sound and said, "Hiruzen, send Jiraiya home once he gets done sobbing. I'm taking these scrolls to the kitchen to read them. Join me when you're done with your brat." Then she stepped out of the study._

 _'_ _What a woman!_ _' thought Hiruzen to himself. "Calm down and stop being so dramatic Jiraiya-kun. It's not like somebody died or anything."_

 _Jiraiya sniffled, "Only my pride as a seal master was brutally assassinated by a genius Uzumaki killer…."_

 _Hiruzen just sighed. '_ _Some things will never change…._ _'_

 **Chapter 28**

 **Tea Country, Forest**

Team 11 woke up and was already eating a simple breakfast in the pre dawn hours. By the time the sun peeked over the horizon the rather fatigued group was already moving through the trees in silence as they covered to rest of the trail to Hekison Village. There were no signs of trouble and by eight in the morning the group of four arrived at the Village gates. The locals were told to expect some Konoha ninjas to escort the beautiful Miko Minami Natsuko to the Fire Capital. What they didn't expect was the battered and bloodied appearance of the three kunoichis and the single ninja that arrived. Team 11 looked like they'd been through a war.

People quietly stood back and watched in silence as Yūgao quietly led her team in. She saw there were a couple of armed guards there to drive off bandits and saw a few people scamper off towards a medium sized house she suspected the village leader lived in. Two more guards came and a balding man in his fifties was with them. Yūgao motioned for her tense genins to stand down and saw them settle into a more relaxed posture as the man arrived. The purple haired jonin bowed along with her team and she said, "I am Jonin Uzuki Yūgao of Konoha and this is my team. We are here to see the Village Elder of Hekison Village named Ryozaki Arata-san regarding our mission." She presented their mission papers.

The man returned their bow and looked a bit relieved. "I am Ryozaki Arata, Uzuki-san. I welcome you to the Hekison Village. Not to be rude but what happened to you? Are you in need of medical assistance? We have a village healer."

Yūgao waved him off. "We were ambushed on our way here though we don't know why. If you have an inn or guest lodgings were we could wash ourselves and clean and dress our injuries it would be very helpful."

Ryozaki nodded uncertainly as he looked at Naruto's bloodied and frayed uniform. "Please follow me. We have a traveler's lodge for guests who have come to be blessed at our shrine. Are you sure our healer isn't necessary?"

Yūgao looked her team over slowly and said, "Perhaps having your healer look us over would be helpful."

Smiling, Ryozaki said, "We will be happy to provide. Come and I'll show you to our lodge."

Yūgao and her team bowed again before they followed the Village Elder to the traveler's lodge where they could rest.

….

 **Hekison Village Lodge** ….

Naruto was standing in the shower scrubbing the dried blood off of himself. He had to admit that ANBU gear was tops despite his injuries. Given how close he'd been to the explosion it protected him remarkably well. The blonde ninja had pretty much healed between the Kyubi and his own healing factor that was further enhanced by the Kurimuzo. Finally giving up on getting his back clean Naruto created a show clone that got him clean in areas he couldn't reach. He really wished it had been Hinata-chan or Maya-chan there helping him instead but with Yūgao-sensei watching it would be pretty obvious what was going on. None of the three genins were sure if Yūgao had seen them kissing on each other.

In the room across the hall Hinata was checking over Maya and using the mystic palm to heal her various scrapes and bruises. Hinata had already checked herself over and Maya had bandaged her so now the girls had traded places. Finishing up applying some healing salve she gently wrapped what few injuries Maya had left. "I guess basically we're both okay despite all things Maya-chan." said Hinata.

"I'm more worried about Naruto-kun." said Maya. "He won't admit it but he was really badly hurt. What's he doing now Hinata-chan?"

Hinata activated her byakugan. "It looks like he has a shadow clone helping to scrub his back in the shower. He probably had blood there too."

Both girls sighed sadly thinking of their boyfriend's injuries when they heard a knock on the door. Yūgao's voice rang through the door. "Are you two girls done? I need Hinata-chan to check me over for injuries." Seeing that no one else was out in the hall with her byakugan; Hinata invited Yūgao in. Yūgao was in a yukata for guests and her hair was still damp. She'd just finished her shower. "How are you two doing?" asked the jonin. The two younger kunoichis seemed to have lost some of the fatigued look they'd had and Yūgao was glad for that. Before stripping off to be examined herself she quickly checked the girls over physically for any injuries.

"It seems you've done an excellent job with these field dressings Hinata-chan." the jonin said approvingly. "I'm not in bad shape but I want you to examine me as well just in case."

A few minutes later Hinata finished her examination and said grouchily, "You hardly have a scratch on you Yūgao-sensei. Other than a bit of muscle strain and bruising from the explosion you're right as rain….I'm jealous."

"Must be nice…." grumped Maya as she got her support bra on.

Yūgao chuckled. "I reinforced my body with chakra the second I knew there was danger. When we get back to Konoha we'll be training in that during sparring. It will become second nature to you after a while."

A few bandages later Yūgao was testing her muscles. "Having someone trained as a combat medic on the team is excellent. Thank you Hinata-chan."

About that time there was a quick knock on the door and Village Elder Ryozaki came in leading the village healer. Setting his eyes on the three young, beautiful and nearly _naked_ kunoichis he was immediately blown back by a massive nosebleed into the hall where he was knocked unconscious when his head impacted against the wall. The healer yelled, "Ryozaki Arata you bald baka hentai! You don't just _let_ yourself into a lady's room!" The healer closed the door behind her and locked it before the middle aged woman bowed, "Forgive me for not restraining that moron Arata. I am Mai, the Healer of Hekison Village."

The three kunoichis just sweat dropped….

From Naruto's point of view in the shower he heard the sound of the Village Elder's head hit the wall by his door and heard Mai calling Ryozaki a stupid pervert. '…. _Probably better to not get involved_ ….' he thought. ' _I'll just finish cleaning up here and wait for the girls to come bandage me up if I actually need it_.' With that he went to dry off and put on a towel….

 **Fire Country, Konoha Village**

Hanako had risen early and was in the kitchen looking over the _confounding_ scrolls on the ryugan. They gave a general description:

 _The Ryugan is the doujutsu passed down through the Natsume Clan since before the Era of Warring Clans. It allows the user to synchronize with the spirits of all things, thus it gives them a type of prescience that allows them to see anywhere past, present, possible futures, as well as seeing and hearing the dead. It can also use be used to astral project and to use psychometry. The Ryugan is also known for its capacity to consume chakra indefinitely, so sustaining it too long can cause the user to suffer from chakra exhaustion, lose consciousness or in a few rare cases it has led to death from chakra loss._

 _It is characterized by the pupil becoming long and slitted while emanating a red glow thus giving the name 'Dragon's Eye.' A few individuals develop it as children and are often unstable as a result. Most develop it in their mid to late teens or in early adulthood._

Hanako sighed. This information was all well and good but that's all there was….and it was nothing that wasn't already common knowledge in ninja circles. The three scrolls _only_ said this and all three were identical. She wondered if it was more of Naruto's sealing at work or some blood or doujutsu sealed technique that only allowed clan members to read the scrolls….or **_if_** these were even the genuine scrolls…. ' _It would be just like Naruto-kun to plant fakes and Maya-chan would be likely to agree to something like that. Still, Maya-chan isn't the sort of young lady to leave Aya-chan without guidance in case something happened. Since I have Aya-chan out of her Academy classes for the next few days I'll talk to her once she's up and about. The child needs sleep right now more than anything_ ….'

Truthfully Hanako wasn't really all that comfortable reading through what should have been _Natsume Clan scrolls_ anyway but since Aya's life could be in danger she felt obligated to help. ' _I'll just have to wait until Aya-chan wakes up_.' Hanako was so preoccupied with her surrogate granddaughter that she almost missed her real granddaughter coming into the kitchen in her light blue pajamas. Seeing her sleepy eyed grandchild come in yawning and stretching cutely, Hanako smiled and said, "Well good morning to you Hanabi-chan. You usually aren't up for another couple of hours. Can't you sleep?"

Hanabi rubbed her eyes and shook her head 'no.' "I was worried about Aya nee-chan and couldn't go back to sleep. Have you found out anything that will help Obaa-chan?"

Scooping her youngest grandchild into her lap; Hanako hugged Hanabi gently. "I'm afraid we'll have to wait until Aya-chan wakes up in a few hours. These scrolls don't tell me anything we don't already know Hanabi-chan. If we can't find out more then we'll start training Aya-chan in chakra exercises we Hyūgas use as children to activate and deactivate our byakugan."

Hanabi snuggled up in her Grandmothers warm embrace. "Obaa-chan, are you sure those scrolls aren't sealed in some way by Naruto nii-san? It would be just like him to do that or hide the originals somewhere and leave fakes."

The Hyūga matriarch beamed at her youngest grandchild. "That's an excellent bit of deductive reasoning Hanabi-chan. I was thinking along the same lines. I'm hoping Aya-chan might know something when she gets up." Soon Hanabi dozed off comfortably in her Grandmother's lap and Hanako decided just to relax for awhile holding her littlest one. ' _It will work out fine. At the worst we'll just have to wait for Maya-chan to get home_.' Hanako smiled down at Hanabi. ' _She is such a sweet child. I'll make sure she grows up strong just like Hinata-chan is_.'

 **Tea Country, Hekison Village**

Minami Natsuko was getting her things together for her trip to the Fire Capitol. She'd been informed that her ninja escorts had arrived and were at the village traveler's lodge. Rumors had spread over the small village that they were injured in some kind of attack so things weren't clear at this point what was going on. She knew the village healer Mai-san had gone to the lodge. Natsuko decided to go over to the lodge and check up on things….When the Miko entered the lodge she was greeted by the caretakers at the desk and was directed to the rooms Team 11 was occupying.

Walking down the hall she spotted the village elder laying unconscious in the hall and dashed up to him. "Elder Arata, are you alright?!"

The old man opened his eyes and stared at Natsuko's generous cleavage as she bent over him in concern. He mumbled "…. _Boobs for the win…!_ " before she smacked him unconscious again.

Leaving a nice red handprint on top of his bald head the Miko growled, "Old pervert!" under her breath and stood back up figuring Arata was fine. She heard the door beside her slide open and saw Mai and Hinata coming out of the room Naruto was staying in. Hinata was wearing a lodge yukata and dusting her hands off with Mai right behind her.

"You are quite the skilled healer Hinata-san; I'm very impressed." said Mai.

Hinata blushed a bit. "Thank you but I'm just trained as a combat medic Mai-san. I have much to learn." Hinata saw Natsuko standing in the hall. "Oh, hello. May I help you?" she asked the Miko.

Mai said, "Ah, Natsuko-san. You have good timing. Hinata-san, this is Minami Natsuko-san who is the Miko you will be escorting. Natsuko-san, this is Hyūga Hinata-san who is one of your ninja guardians."

Both girls bowed to each other and briefly sized one another up. ' _No wonder Wataru-baka picked her_.' thought Hinata looking at Natsuko's bust size. "I'm pleased to meet you Priestess; I am genin kunoichi Hyūga Hinata and I hope our passage to the Fire Capitol is trouble free."

For her part Natsuko was examining Hinata appraisingly. ' _She's quite stunning. Normally I don't have any competition in the looks department. Reminds me of back home. This kunoichi would fit right in there_.' "It's nice to make your acquaintance Hinata-san; I am Minami Natsuko and I'll be in your care. Please just call me Natsuko; there is no need to use my title of priestess."

"As you wish Natsuko-san. I'll introduce you to the others." Soon Natsuko was introduced to both Yūgao and Maya who she noted were very beautiful as well. They informed her that Naruto was getting dressed and would be out in a little bit.

After exchanging greetings the Miko thought to herself, ' _Well, this will be boring. Only one male to keep me entertained all the way to Fire Country. I hope he's handsome or at least cute. I'll need_ _ **something**_ _to do. It would be just my luck to draw a team of beautiful kunoichis…_.'

Mai said, "Well I suppose I should get the caretakers to help me haul Arata-san's carcass back to his place. How on Earth did he get this red slap mark on the top of his head?!"

Everyone's heads turned to the resident Miko who was sweating. "I'll get the lodge caretakers to help you Mai-san!" she squeaked as she took off down the hall. Mai and the three kunoichis shrugged as the girls returned to their rooms to get fully dressed.

 **Hōrō-sha Village**

A lone ninja came into town to report to his employer. He looked quite troubled as he entered the town's crime boss's residence. "Ah Shigure, you are back. Where's your team?" asked a man in an expensive business suit.

The ninja Shigure said in a haggard voice, "They are all dead Akio-sama. I am the only survivor out of the eight of us. I came here as quickly as possible."

Akio's eyes widened. "What the hell happened? Were you ambushed? What about the target?"

Shigure sighed in exhaustion. This _wasn't_ going to go over well with his lord. "Akio-sama; we ambushed what at first appeared to be a normal genin cell from Konoha and they turned upon us. We managed to injure one but he was standing again when I withdrew. I believe all four of them may have been ANBU level but I'm not sure. They were all wearing Konoha ANBU style uniforms. We were slaughtered. The target was rumored to be at that level but all four of them struck like lightning; even the injured one. I was fortunate to have escaped alive and intact."

"You're saying your team had the initiative and outnumbered them two to one and you are the only one that is left alive?" asked Akio in disbelief. Seeing Shigure nod shamefully he said, "My house ninja have always been very competent. I find it difficult to conceive that you were defeated that badly by a team of four." He pondered a few moments. "Were they going to or from Hekison Village?"

"We concluded they were going to Hekison Village from Heiya Village." reported Shigure. "They didn't appear to be escorting anybody and there were certainly no civilians present."

Akio sighed. "We will have to wait until they've picked up their client before we strike again. That should slow them down a bit. I'm going to have you lead a second group Shigure. One of the women in that group is our target and we have to get her."

"Yes my lord." answered Shigure. ' _If I have my way we_ _ **won't**_ _find the targets again_.' he thought to himself. ' _Some targets are just too dangerous to hunt and this is one of them. I don't know which kunoichi to target and that lack of information could cost us even more lives. Forgive me Akio-sama but this situation is simply too hot to handle_.'

Unaware of his head ninja's semi mutinous thoughts, Akio began a letter to _his_ boss to update him on the situation….

 **Fire Country, Konoha Village**

Aya tiredly stretched and woke up around lunch time. She blinked and looked at her alarm clock. "Oh gods; I'm late for the Academy!" she said as her panicked voice echoed through the house. She quickly stumbled out of bed and dashed out into the hall….only to nearly run over poor Natsu who had a basket of laundry that launched everywhere upon impact. Both women were knocked down.

Natsu rubbed her nose from the laundry basket hitting it and saw the mess. Sighing, she said, "It seems most of your energy has returned Aya-sama. What's the rush?"

Realizing she'd just clobbered the maid of the house Aya squeaked out, "I'm _terribly_ sorry Natsu-san! I wasn't looking where I was going when I left my room. I'm late for the Academy and I was running to get to the bathroom to get ready to go."

Hanako poked her head around the corner in amusement. She'd heard Aya's shriek earlier and saw the whole collision with her byakugan from the front room. Hanabi peered around her Grandmother and saw laundry everywhere. "Aya nee-chan, you're finally awake. I'm so glad! We were all worried for you." said Hanabi as she dashed over to the two women in the floor to help pick up the laundry. The little girl quickly looked between Natsu and Aya. "Are you both okay? I heard a crash…."

Natsu looked around depressed at the (formerly) clean laundry scattered hither and yon. "I'm fine Hanabi-sama; I just need to clean up this mess. I think Aya-sama is okay unless she bumped something when she fell."

Hanako said, "There's going to be a very important announcement in the Village Main Square today so your Academy classes are cancelled Aya-chan. We have about three hours so everyone needs to get ready after we have lunch. Aya-chan, if you aren't up to it I'll leave a shadow clone here with you to watch over you."

"What's the announcement about Obaa-chan?" asked Hanabi curiously as she helped Aya and Natsu pick up the laundry.

"Hiruzen-kun is retiring and a new Hokage is to be announced." said Hanako with a soft smile. "I trust you ladies would like to be present for such an occasion? I believe Mito-chan and Shizune-chan will be accompanying us."

Natsu perked up. "What about Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama? Will they be present as well Hanako-sama?"

Hanako nodded. "They will be present but serving in an official capacity so they won't be down in the crowds with us."

"Nee-chan is going to be bummed out that she missed this." said Aya.

"Maya-chan, Hinata-chan and Naruto-kun have duties elsewhere right now." said the silver haired matriarch. "They will understand. You should all pay attention so you can tell them out it later."

Hanabi smirked. "Well, Aya nee-chan; it seems our elder siblings are going to be jealous of us for being there." There was a mischievous sparkle in her byakugan eyes. "We'll tell them all about it for the appropriate amount of ice cream."

Natsu looked horrified and Aya laughed. Hanako winked at her granddaughter said, "I wonder were this devious, scheming side of yours comes from Hanabi-chan."

Hanabi burst into giggles and soon the laundry disaster was taken care of. It was going to be a rather momentous day….

 **Tea Country, Hekison Village**

Naruto was sitting down to lunch at the lodge with his companions. "We'll get a good night's rest and leave in the morning." Yūgao told her genins. "We'll head back to Fire Country on the west side of the mountains and completely avoid the paths we took to get here. Since we don't know if we were attacked because of one of us being targeted or the client we'll be travelling quickly as we can at a civilian pace. Hopefully Natsuko-san is in good enough physical shape to move along at a good speed."

"I guess we'll find out about her tomorrow Yugao-sensei." commented Maya.

"We should talk to her today and see if she knows any form of self defense." said Naruto.

Hinata nodded. "That's a good idea Naruto-kun. She appeared to be very physically fit at first glance."

Yūgao said, "While it is an excellent idea to know these things as her bodyguards it is our duty to protect her regardless. Including her as an asset to our fighting strength is not something we should do. In a worst case scenario where we are unable to help her is the only reason she should have to be involved in _any_ kind of combat; understood?"

"Yes sensei." said the three genins.

"Still, we will find out how capable she is before we leave tomorrow." said the jonin. "You were on the right track in your assessments."

 **Fire Country, Konoha Village**

The official instatement of Tsunade as the Fifth Hokage was big news in Konoha Village. Everyone was very excited. The rumors had been flying around but at long last the new Hokage was revealed. A retirement speech was given by the Third Hokage and he was only too glad to be passing the hat to someone younger once more. Tsunade was glad that her sensei was staying on as her advisor. She also had just about sealed the deal with Hanako but nothing was really announced other than Tsunade would be appointing her advisors in the next two weeks. There had been some talk about where the three Village Elders were but it hadn't been revealed to the public that Danzo was dead and Homura and Koharu were in ANBU prison awaiting their turn….Tsunade wasn't prepared to tip her hand there just yet.

Down in the crowds Mito-chan was bouncing up and down with excitement. "No wonder Kaa-san and Tou-san aren't down here!" She gave Hanabi a wild hug. "My Kaa-san is the Fifth Hokage!" She said excitedly. Shizune just smiled.

Standing with Hanako's little group was Team Gai. They'd just returned from a long and boring border patrol mission and were all very excited. It was a surprise to the genins but the Jonins had already been informed so Gai had rushed his Team back to Konoha to see the inauguration of their _youthful_ Hokage. His Team had been a bit disgruntled at returning to Konoha at top speeds but they were glad for it now. Tenten in particular was absolutely thrilled to see her idol Tsunade-sama become the first female Hokage. Neji was pleased as well and was talking quietly with his Obaa-chan and his little cousin Hanabi who had somehow conned him into letting her sit on his shoulders for a better view. (The many bone crushing hugs from the very excited Mito-chan were a little too much for the nine year old Hyūga).

Amidst all the excitement the rest of the Hyūga Clan was there and in good spirits although Hiaishi wished his Kaa-san and her little group were standing united with the rest of the Hyūga Clan instead of apart. Many Hyūgas were looking around for their Heiress Hinata-sama but to their disappointment she was nowhere to be found. Hiashi was privy to that fact Hinata-chan was out on a mission with her team but the rest of the clan wasn't in the know. Hiashi just sighed and hoped Hinata-chan was safe and well.

The vast majority of the village was surprised but no one was more surprised than Yakushi Kabuto. This could change _everything_. ' _What am I to tell Orochimaru-sama? Why didn't Danzo contact us? He had to have known about this but he's been missing for some time. Where_ _ **is**_ _the old war hawk?! For all that matter why aren't those two fossils Koharu and Homura present for the ceremony? Something is very amiss here. I have the feeling this beefed up security is a result of Tsunade-sama's influence. It's getting more and more difficult to slip away to report to Orochimaru-sama. I wonder what Rasa-sama will do once he hears the news. If the Kazekage drops out the entire invasion plan could be in jeopardy_ ….'

 **Tea Country, Hekison Village**

Uzuki Yūgao had gone over to the shrine to visit Natsuko-san and was pleasantly surprised to find the young Miko was going through her katas with her naginata. After she talked a bit with Natsuko she found the Miko claimed to be a rank amateur but said shaking a naginata at potential thieves or bandits made them think twice before they attacked so help could come. Yūgao didn't buy that story for a minute. She'd carefully watched Natsuko for several minutes before the Miko noticed her presence and _intentionally got sloppy_ with her forms.

' _Natsuko-san was either trained for years at a temple or is a trained kunoichi._ ' thought Yūgao to herself. ' _She hides it well but her story of being a lost soul that found enlightenment in this small shrine is utter bullshit. I know a trained combatant when I see one. I will have Hinata-chan check her chakra coils out and see if they are well developed as I expect they are. Just who and what are you Minami Natsuko? –assuming that's even your real name_ ….'

Yūgao went back to the lodge and informed her genins of her findings. Hinata agreed to look the Miko over with her byakugan later.

 **Rice Country, Orochimaru's main base**

Orochimaru sat there in shock. The message from his spies in Fire Country (who seemed to be dwindling in numbers of late) informed him the situation had just changed radically. They relayed the information that his old teammate Senju Tsunade was now the Fifth Hokage. ' _This….was totally unexpected. Sarutobi-sensei totally blindsided me with this move. I will have to move quickly to keep Suna in this war. I had the Kazekage completely assured that I could deal with old man Sarutobi but Tsunade is a different matter. I'll wait for a full report from Kabuto before I make any overt moves but I need to send a message out to Rasa-sama immediately before he gets cold feet_.' The snake sannin was previously sure his plan was foolproof but now he wasn't so sure….

 **Tea Country, Hōrō-sha Village**

Akio was concerned about his current situation. He'd lost seven good, competent house ninjas to an enemy that seemed far too strong. His boss had hired Akio's group as well as another group to kill a jonin or ANBU level kunoichi that somehow was connected to this mission to escort a Miko from Hekison Village. The details were scant and his head ninja Shigure was showing all the signs of someone who wanted to flee rather than take this mission on again. The worst part of it all was they didn't have a clear cut target. Apparently the boss held some sort of long standing grudge against this kunoichi and the description was she was young and beautiful with long hair. She was also skilled with blades. Discounting the fact that hair could be cut, colored, styled, etc. _any_ of the three kunoichis involved could be the target. They all carried swords and at least from Shigure's appraisal were all young and _very_ attractive.

Just as bad was the male on the team. He was hit point blank with an exploding tag and Shigure was positive he was dead….until the ninja rose up and apparently bisected their heavy hitter Itoi in a sword duel. Akio knew that ninjas from Konoha or any of the five major villages were going to be tough. Most house ninjas in Tea Country were from villages where they couldn't make the cut. But shrugging off an exploding tag? Whoever they were facing was obviously monstrously strong. Akio was already committed to sending another squad of eight out led by Sigure but he was beginning to think it was a bad idea….

 **Wind Country, the Village of Suna**

The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa of the Gold Dust was in a quandary. This very afternoon he had received an official letter from Konaha that the Fifth Hokage was announced and it was none other than the slug sannin Senju Tsunade. He also received an official invitation from Tsunade-sama herself to come to Konoha and reaffirm their _long standing alliance_ with Suna. While Rasa had been very cautious of throwing in his lot with the criminal Orochimaru; the snake sannin had assured him that defeating Sarutobi Hiruzen-sama was something Orochimaru could easily accomplish. Tsunade on the other hand….

Rasa was at home and saw his three children outside with their Jonin instructor Baki when he peered out the window. ' _Is this worth it Kurara?_ ' he thought to himself. ' _Can I put our children at risk this way in a war that we might very well lose?_ ' The troubled Kazekage read the letter he received from Orochimaru as well. It was obviously written in haste to assure Rasa that everything was under control and the Fifth Hokage's appointment meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. Rasa didn't buy that for a minute. He had met Sarutobi Hiruzen-sama on several occasions and though he respected the Third Hokage greatly Rasa felt the old man was too old to effectively battle against the likes of Orochimaru or himself. But Senju Tsunade was renowned as the strongest kunoichi on the continent and held the Slug contract. She was also still in her prime and Rasa had no doubts that she was _very_ formidable. Old Sarutobi wouldn't have chosen her otherwise.

The Fourth Kazekage was going to have to reconsider his options. The idea of this invasion of Konoha was looking less and less attractive the more he thought about it. He looked out the window at his estranged children once again and decided that meeting the new Hokage face to face might be in the best interests of Suna _and_ his estranged family. No matter how big of a barrier he had between himself and his three children he still loved them dearly. Perhaps there was an alternative to this war….

 **Tea Country, Hekison Village**

That evening Team 11 sat down with their client and discussed what the trip would entail. Yūgao voiced the opinion that they didn't want to endanger the Priestess any more than they had to so they would be traveling through the more forested west side of the peninsula. Natsuko indicated she was an experienced camper from her previous travels and that she was fine with it. When they asked what she did before she was a Miko she simple deflected the question saying she was a wanderer.

Several thoughts were going through their heads. Natsuko was eyeing Naruto rather hungrily. " _He's sexy in a feral kind of way. I like those cute whisker mark tattoos. I can sense he's strong too. I'll have to sleep in his tent so he can keep me nice and warm at night. Even if he's a virgin I'd love to play teacher_ ….' mentally she was giggling to herself perversely.

Hinata had stepped out to 'use the bathroom' and examined Natsuko with her Byakugan through the wall. ' _Yūgao-sensei was right. Natsuko-san has low jonin chakra levels and clearly has used them often. There's no doubt about it; she's a kunoichi._ '

Maya was on a different wavelength. ' _I don't know who this Miko thinks she is but I'm not letting her near my Naruto-kun. She's been eye humping him and flirting with him the whole meal….I may have to kick her ass client or not_ ….'

After dinner Team 11 and their sensei traded notes that Natsuko was indeed a kunoichi and that they would have to be careful with her. They all agreed to keep pretending she was a civilian though. Naruto seemed oblivious to the Miko's sexual innuendos so the girls decided not to bring that subject up.

The escort mission back was going to be a potentially interesting….especially considering the 'Miko' they were guarding may have been the real target of the attack on them to begin with….

 **Fire Country, the Village of Konoha**

Tsunade was sitting back in the Hokage's Office; or rather _her_ office now. Her husband Jiraiya was there as well. She, Jiraiya and Sarutobi-sensei had concocted the idea of sending out a 'friendly invitation' to the Fourth Kazekage. She'd never met Rasa-sama of the Gold Dust in person but if he did come the plan was to reveal just how strong Konoha was and that they knew that he was cooperating with Orochimaru. It was a rather edgy and truthfully aggressive way of conducting diplomacy but Tsunade had a plan. She was not a warmonger and frankly she hated war with a passion but this could be turned into a golden opportunity to take her traitorous ex-teammate Orochimaru out of the picture for good. _That_ idea she relished in.

Thanks to Jiraiya; Tsunade was well aware of the fact that Suna was hurting financially due to the idiocy of the Wind Daimyo. He was giving most of his business to Konoha these days. For certain economic concessions (perhaps joint Suna-Konoha missions in the future); Tsunade hoped to convince the Fourth Kazekage to stay out of this or better yet join with Konoha in an attack to wipe out the Sound Village. Hanako-sama had suggested that striking while the iron was still hot as well which made Tsunade want the former ANBU Commander _Raven_ as her advisor all the more. If Rasa-sama agreed to visit Konoha then 'coincidentally' the corrupt former elders Koharu and Homura were going to dealt with that very day and the announcement that Danzo had already been executed for treason would be made public as well. If _that_ didn't leave an impression on the Fourth Kazekage nothing would.

Tsunade was far from bloodthirsty but presenting a dynamic and powerful front would keep anyone (and particularly potential enemies) from thinking an attack or messing with Konoha in general was a good idea….

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, wheels within wheels are turning both on the level of village politics and down to Team 11's escort mission. Who is Minami Natsuko and what is her actual purpose? What is going to happen with the Fourth Kazekage? Rasa is at a crossroads and will have to choose between Tsunade and Orochimaru. (Tsunade has a huge advantage here in the looks department –That and Rasa is obviously straight having three kids but let's not go there). Tsunade is now officially Hokage which frees up time for Hiruzen to romance Hanako provided they don't get in a war. And lastly the mysteries of the Ryugan remain just that –mysteries. See you next time. Blue out. 1/3/16


	29. Chapter 29

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I've been meaning to update this for a long while; I'm still job hunting but life is _finally_ starting to fall back into some sort of order so I'm trying to update my four core stores this month. So far I've gotten **_Dragon's Maw_** and **_Curse of the Ryugan_** is up now. Here's chapter 29. This chapter is mainly plot and character driven so not much action. Enjoy!

Last time:

 _Thanks to Jiraiya; Tsunade was well aware of the fact that Suna was hurting financially due to the idiocy of the Wind Daimyo. He was giving most of his business to Konoha these days. For certain economic concessions (perhaps joint Suna-Konoha missions in the future); Tsunade hoped to convince the Fourth Kazekage to stay out of this or better yet join with Konoha in an attack to wipe out the Sound Village. Hanako-sama had suggested that striking while the iron was still hot as well which made Tsunade want the former ANBU Commander_ _Raven_ _as her advisor all the more. If Rasa-sama agreed to visit Konoha then 'coincidentally' the corrupt former elders Koharu and Homura were going to dealt with that very day and the announcement that Danzo had already been executed for treason would be made public as well. If_ _that_ _didn't leave an impression on the Fourth Kazekage nothing would._

 _Tsunade was far from bloodthirsty but presenting a dynamic and powerful front would keep anyone (and particularly potential enemies) from thinking an attack or messing with Konoha in general was a good idea…._

 **Chapter 29**

 **Wind Country, the Village of Suna**

The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa of the Gold Dust sent a sealed letter to Konoha to accept Tsunade's invitation to visit her. Something told him change was in the air. He saw his beautiful seventeen year old daughter Temari coming into their home after a hard morning of training. ' _She looks so much like Kurara it's haunting_.' Rasa loved his daughter but between leading the village and Gaara's situation they had a wedge driven in between them that he could not seem to breach. Rasa's relationship with Kankuro was little better and his relationship (if it could be called that) with Gaara was substantially worse. Rasa felt that Gaara might still be able to control Shukaku. Recently his youngest had taken up the philosophy of only living and killing for himself and somehow it brought Gaara's control over the sand to acceptable levels. Still, Rasa wasn't sure if leaving Gaara in the village without supervision was a good idea. If Shukaku got loose in Suna while Rasa was gone it could potentially be disastrous….

Rasa watched as all three of his children took their sandals off and called Temari over. "Temari, come to my study after you remove your gear." Temari simply bowed in deference but Rasa could see resentment burning in her teal eyes. She always addressed him as ' _Kazekage-sama_ ' instead of ' _Father_ ' or even ' _Daddy_ ' like she did when she was little. ' _I miss those days_.' thought Rasa sadly.

Soon Temari came in and stood at attention before her Father. The blonde girl said, "Reporting as ordered Kazekage-sama."

Rasa cringed inside at his daughter's emotionless way of addressing him. To her he was her military commander and not her Father. Rasa sighed. "Temari, I need to talk to you about you and you brothers."

His eldest crisply replied, "I will write a formal report for you on Gaara's status within the hour."

"No Temari, I want to _talk_ to you." Seeing her 'mission' face he held up a hand and said, "I don't want a verbal report. Gaara has been stable from my observations…." Finally Rasa said, "Please sit down and be at ease. I want to talk to you as my _daughter_ , not as a kunoichi of this village."

Temari sat down but was very guarded. Rasa could see the gears in her head turning lightning fast. She hid it well but Temari was very suspicious of her Father's motives. 'What _the hell is going on? He never wanted a_ _ **daughter**_ _before….He must be planning to manipulate me on a personal level for some reason_.' "What is it you wish to speak about sir?" she asked emotionlessly.

Rasa sagged slightly inside. "Temari, a new Hokage has come into power in Konoha. It is Tsunade of the sannin; I have no doubt that you have heard of her." Seeing his daughter nod slightly he said, "Because of her recent inauguration Tsunade-sama has invited me to Konoha to reaffirm our alliance….I want you three children to join me on this trip as you've never been to a foreign village. Consider it a….family vacation."

The sandy blonde haired kunoichi silently stared at her Father as if he'd just sprouted a second head and Rasa began to feel self conscious.

Smiling very awkwardly he said, "What do you think of the idea Temari-chan?"

Temari measured her words carefully because her gut reaction was to blurt out ' ** _Temari-CHAN?! What the hell is this?! Are you out of your fucking mind?!_** ' Fortunately she had a filter to use in the presence of the Kazekage. "I feel it would be detrimental to our team's training out here in the desert. No, I believe taking part in any sort of vacation would be a bad idea for all concerned."

Rasa heard a hardened bitterness in his daughter's voice and it was obvious she wanted nothing to do with this. He said tiredly, "I'll take your words under advisement Temari, you are dismissed."

Temari stood up and bowed before heading back to her room. The sandy blonde kunoichi was suspicious and ill at ease with the whole _concept_ that her Father would even bring up such an idea; let alone ask her _opinion_ on it. ' _As preposterous as the idea sounds I'm sure if the Kazekage decides this so called 'vacation' is what he wants then we'll have no choice but to go. I still have to wonder why he bothered to ask my opinion though. I'm just a genin after all_.' Truthfully Temari was chunin level but remained a genin to be with her brothers. The three siblings had already decided they would all become chunins together in the upcoming Chunin Exams in Konoha in a few months. ' _Why did Kazekage-sama even_ _ **ask**_ _me? Maybe he was trying to test my judgment or something_.'

Determining that dwelling on it would do her no good, Temari decided to put it out of her mind and washed up for the morning meal. Even though it was pointless in her view, the Kazekage and his children generally had meals as a family when Rasa was home….

 **Fire Country, the Village of Konoha**

Hanako was up early as always and had Aya pulled from the Academy for a few days to teach her some vital chakra exercises to ensure the kunoichi in training could control her ryugan to _some_ degree. They were Hyūga children's techniques used when they were first learning how to use their byakugan but Hanako felt it was far better than Aya potentially suffering from serious chakra exhaustion. After talking to the Academy Headmaster, Hanako went down and spoke to Aya's sensei Tsubaki and made arrangements to have Aya's assignments brought to her in the afternoons after class. Takayanagi Masataka eagerly volunteered to help Aya by bringing her homework to her and Hanako agreed given the boy actually had _proper_ etiquette. She also saw Souichiro Nagi and Makihara Bob there but Hanako's byakugan glare kept them from getting out of line. After that she thanked both Tsubaki-sensei and Masataka for their help before she vanished in a body flicker leaving the class of ninjas in training rather dazzled.

When Hanako got back to the Natsume Clan Home she found Hanabi-chan teaching Aya-chan the hand signs to activate the byakugan. (Hanabi had already outgrown using them but remembered them like all Hyūgas did). "Just like that Aya nee-chan." said Hanabi as Hanako walked in the front door. "Now we need to focus the chakra and let it flow to our eyes. Watch as I activate my byakugan." Hanabi said as she demonstrated and activated her byakugan eyes. "Once Obaa-chan get's home we'll -Ah, there you are Obaa-chan. I'm glad you are here. Will you supervise for us?"

Aya looked up and saw Hanako enter the room. "I must be handy being able to see through walls and all around you." said Aya. "I didn't even know you were back Hanako Obaa-chan; Hanabi-chan saw you there behind her." she added smiling.

Hanako smiled softly and said, "Let me see your hand signs Aya-chan." After watching Aya perform them four times Hanako said, "We need to work on your hand sign speed Aya-chan. Let's try the leaf balancing exercise before we start trying to activate your ryugan. I want to see how good your chakra control is in general as well. Let's go out to the dojo." Within a few hours of practicing with Hanabi; Aya had the leaf spinning exercise well under way and Hanako said, "I'm going to teach you and Hanabi-chan the tree walking exercise Aya-chan. Once I'm satisfied with your mastery of that exercise and your hand signs then we will try to activate and deactivate your ryugan voluntarily. You are making good progress."

Hanako patted the ground beside her and the three sat down together for a short break. They had some rice balls and tea to replenish their energy. "So how long do you think that this will take Obaa-chan?" asked Aya.

"With patience and diligence I believe we will be able to activate and deactivate your ryugan at will within about a week Aya-chan." said Hanako. Seeing Aya sag a bit Hanako said, "We cannot rush this Aya-chan. It is vital that you learn this properly because your health or even your life could be threatened otherwise. This next week will be time well spent. Besides; you have Hanabi-chan who will be learning with you and the two of you can help each other along. This afternoon your classmate Takayanagi Masataka-kun will be bringing your class assignments to you. You'll need to keep up on that too."

Aya was looking a bit overwhelmed. "You needn't worry about your Academy assignments as much Aya-chan." said Hanako. "I'm sure I can offer guidance and Natsu-san can as well given she went to the same Academy you are. There really wasn't a program in place like this when I became a ninja. We were fighting the Second Shinobi War at the time so we didn't have time for homework assignments. I guess our homework was just staying alive."

"Wow, Obaa-chan! That sounds hard." said Hanabi.

"Well, it was all worth it so you children could have a safe village to grow up in." said Hanako proudly. "Let's get back to work now that we've had a little break. We'll keep going until lunch and see where we stand at that point."

 **Tea Country, the Village of Hekison**

Team 11 set out in the mid morning with the Miko Minami Natsuko after she bid farewell to her many friends in the village. As they were travelling on the less populated west side of the mountains they planned to spend most of their trip camping and preferably avoiding ambush. Natsuko wasn't worried in the least though. "I'm sure I'll be safe under your protection Yūgao-san. All of you seem very strong, _especially Naruto-kun_."

Hinata and Maya growled lowly and Yūgao said, "Nevertheless, we need to be vigilant and protect you until you are safe at the Fire Capital."

The group travelled relatively quietly through the forests though Natsuko was going out of her way to stay close to Naruto because he ' _made her feel safe_.' As it was she wasn't getting the reaction she wanted out of Naruto because he was very focused on his surroundings. All three genins were on edge because of the previous ambush and were watching the area around them like hawks. ' _Damn I'm bored_ ….' thought Natsuko. ' _I don't sense anything nearby; maybe I should ask Naruto-kun about that ambush. His right sleeve has a lot of damage so maybe I can stroke his ego a little bit_.' "So Naruto-kun, tell me what happened on the way here. Your cool ninja outfit looks all torn up."

' _Cool ninja outfit…?_ ' thought the three females of Team 11.

"We were nearby an explosion and it ripped up my right side." said Naruto. "The main thing is we're all okay."

Natsuko mentally frowned. ' _That looks like he was at point blank from an exploding tag. Any male I've ever met would be_ _ **bragging**_ _to any and every woman he met about even_ _ **surviving**_ _such an ordeal_.' "So what happened then Naruto-kun?"

Naruto tensed when he saw a rabbit scurry by and then relaxed seeing it was no danger. He said to Natsuko, "Well, after that we were able to recover from the attack and I got bandaged up in your village Natsuko-san."

The Miko giggled and said, "You must be _very_ strong to have gone through all that and be just fine now Naruto-kun….And let's be _friends!_ Call me Natsuko- _chan!_ "

"Ummm….I don't think that would be very proper with you being a Miko and all." said Naruto remembering the etiquette training that had been beaten into his head so profoundly by his girlfriends and sensei on the trip down….not to mention Hanako Obaa-chan who was **_the_** reigning enforcer of the laws of proper behavior.

Natsuko kept smiling but in her head she was ranting. ' _The ONLY ninja with humility and some decorum ever born and I'm stuck with him! I'm going to get some action out of him this trip if it's the last thing I do. I haven't been laid in months. Hmmm….maybe he's just a shy type that needs a little coaxing_ ….' Deciding to change tactics Natsuko said, "You seem so proper Naruto-kun, your parents must be proud of you and raised you up to be a real gentleman."

"Actually, I'm an orphan." replied Naruto dully.

Natsuko's smile looked incredibly strained and then her face fell completely. "I-I'm terribly sorry! I would never have known since you seem so….ummm….gentlemanly." stammered out the priestess. ' _What am I supposed to say now?!_ ' she thought frantically.

Maya and Hinata had dark smiles on their face at Natsuko's faux pas. ' _Let's see her recover from that blunder_ ….' thought Hinata viciously. Maya's thoughts were along the same lines with more cursing added in.

"It's all right; you didn't know." said Naruto.

The Miko said, "Still, I feel so bad saying such a thoughtless thing. Let me _make it up to you_ during our trip." Natsuko was trying to latch on to Naruto's arm to rub herself against him but felt a sudden chill.

Yūgao shook her head ruefully at the killing intent coming from Maya and Hinata. ' _As entertaining as this is I may have to protect the client from my female genins. Maya is fingering the Reiki's hilt and Hinata keeps brushing her hands over her kunai pouch. I'll make sure to talk to them tonight. They have to realize that some clients are more trying to put up with than whoever is trying to kill them. Of course, after Wataru-sama I would have thought they were aware of this…_.'

 **Fire Country, the Village of Konoha**

Tsunade was very pleased to see that the Kazekage had accepted her invitation to visit. The messenger bird arrived just before lunch and now the message was decoded. In so many words it said congratulations on her inauguration and that the Kazekage would be coming in three days with a small party of escorts. Tsunade quickly penned a message back saying she was looking forward to his visit and sent it out. ' _Well, that was simple enough. Once he gets here we can actually talk business_.' Tsunade had outlined an economic package to aid their allies in Suna and hopefully increase trade as well. Jiraiya's reports he compiled about Suna's current economic crises pretty much cemented Tsunade's opinion that the Wind Daimyo must be a complete idiot for cutting the funds of his own ninja village so drastically.

It was really little wonder that the Kazekage was desperate at this point. Of course, Tsunade's main goal was to preserve the alliance. Joint Suna/Konoha missions could be valuable not only to help Suna financially but also to improve relations between the two villages. Tsunade still remembered fighting against Lady Chiyo quite well and really didn't want to fight against Suna again with all of their poisons. ' _Who knows what they've brewed up in the time since then? I basically was locked in a poison/counter poison war with old Lady Chiyo for months. I wouldn't mind visiting that old bat to talk about old times but Chiyo was always vindictive and might still be holding a grudge_.'

Tsunade was preparing for another occasion that she rather dreaded; the last of Danzo's former ROOT had been gathered into ANBU and she had to address them and inform them that Danzo was dead (The body was still preserved as proof). Honestly; with the seals applied to the ROOT Agents that Naruto created when they joined ANBU there was no reason they couldn't be easily subdued or even killed with ease if they revolted. But Tsunade didn't want to do that unless it was unavoidable. The fact was Konoha _needed_ ROOT to bolster their forces for the upcoming war and humanitarian reasons aside, loosing ROOT would be a terrible waste of resources.

The Fifth Hokage wanted all that over and done before the Kazekage arrived and it was publicly announced that Danzo was dead and the two remaining Elders were being put to death for treason against Konoha. ANBU Commander Dragon already had everything set for the meeting and all former ROOT members were required to attend including the Advanced Genin, Sai. It was a difficult course of action and Tsunade knew that ROOT ANBU either had to be fully integrated or eliminated. There was no other way around the issue. The question was rather ROOT was loyal to Danzo unto death or whether they were truly loyal to Konoha. Tsunade would soon have her answer….

 **Tea Country, Western Forest**

As Hinata walked along; Angelnata was sitting in her normal position on Hinata's right shoulder wearing formal white priestess robes as she puffed on her peace pipe. Her chibi white wings fluttered irritably. " _She's not a Miko; she's a Mik-hoe!_ " growled Angelnata. " _She's been hitting on OUR Naruto-kun all damn day!_ _We need to tie the bitch up, knock her out and throw her in a burlap sack so we can_ _ **drag**_ _her ass back to the Fire Capital! Or better yet, let's throw her in a crate and just have her shipped as dry goods! The air holes in the crate so she can breathe are optional._ "

Devilnata was lying on her side on Hinata's left shoulder in a set of revealing red and white 'Miko robes' that would be right at home in any red light district for 'blessing ceremonies' as she delicately held her cigarette holder while blowing smoke rings lazily. " _Hmmm….at the very least we need to set up a double barbed wire fence around Naruto-kun's tent when we camp for the night. Natsuk-hoe's like a bitch in heat. We'll have to stay in the tent with Naruto and protect his sweet ass. If_ _ **anyone**_ _is going to be riding that stud on this trip it's going to be us Hinata-chan!_ "

" _Man, what I'd give for an inn to do Naruto-kun right in_ …." said Angelnata with a lustful smile.

' _But what about Maya-chan?_ ' thought/asked Hinata blushing.

" _The more the merrier! All of us need some release Hinata-chan!_ " said Devilnata with a wicked gleam in her eye. " _We'll stick Yūgao-sensei on guard duty and the three of us can get it on!_ "

" _What she said_." agreed Angelnata as she took another draw on her pipe. " _We'll just have to guard Naruto-kun via a threesome_."

Hinata continued to blush as she thought to herself, ' _I think I'm one of the most morally bankrupt kunoichis in history! Where on earth did this come from?!_ '

….

 _Far away in Konoha, Hyūga Hanako sneezed and thought, '_ _Somebody must be talking about me_ _.'_

….

Soon Team 11 was setting up camp for dinner Naruto was setting up a seal barrier while Natsuko followed him around like a puppy dog absolutely _fascinated_ with his seals (or so she claimed). The Miko actually _was_ interested in the seals although her main goal was to be in close bodily contact with Naruto to seduce him. ' _He is creating fuinjutsu seals so quickly and with such intricacy!_ ' she marveled in between feigning ignorance and praising Naruto's intelligence. "So what do these seal pictures that you are placing around do Naruto-kun?" she asked girlishly.

Naruto was losing his patience with Natsuko. These were seals **_he_** had created and were pretty much classified. This girl was _hanging all over him_ and asking all sorts of questions she didn't need to know.

' _Maybe I should have taken the fan girl path all along_.' thought Natsuko as she moved in a bit closer. ' _My village could use a seal master of his caliber. I can't even begin to understand this level of complexity….of course then again, anything beyond a basic sealing scroll is out of my grasp….I really suck at fuinjutsu_ ….' "So what does this one do Naruto-kun?" she asked _accidentally_ rubbing her cleavage against him.

Naruto growled, " ** _Please_** go back to the center of the camp and wait there Natuko-san. I need to finish this and _then_ you'll see what it does. This task is taking too much time." ' _I should have made a bunch of a bunch of shadow clones instead but that's a fairly secret technique and she_ _ **is**_ _suspicious_ ….'

Yūgao and Maya were setting up their tents while Hinata built a fire. Hinata was currently considering throwing Natsuko **_on_** the fire to use as fuel. Natsuko came over and sat down near the fire that Hinata now had burning nicely. "You guys are really good at this." Natsuko said to Hinata. "Which tent is Naruto-kun's? I want to stay _safe by his side_ tonight." Maya accidentally drove a tent spike a foot deeper into the ground and Hinata shattered a piece of firewood in her grip.

' _Danger!_ ' thought Yūgao. The purple haired sword mistress said, "You'll be staying in a tent with _me_ Priestess. As the _strongest_ member of our party I assure you that I can protect you best. Besides; my tent has enough room for the both of us." ' _Don't kill the client girls_.' thought Yūgao as she pondered what tonight was going to be like. _'Maybe a nice enemy ambush would allow my genins to blow off some steam. I doubt a small army could take on the girls as wound up as they are_.'

For her part Natsuko was truly impressed with the four point barrier was activated by Naruto. Yūgao explained that it created a protective barrier around the camp while Naruto and the girls fixed dinner thus keeping potential conflict to a minimum.

 **Fire Country, the Village of Konoha**

Aya was looking over her homework. Masataka-kun brought over his notes for her to copy as well which was a big help. ' _I wish my notes were this good. No wonder Masataka-kun gets such good grades_.' thought Aya as she studied. ' _I wish I was as diligent about studying as Maya nee-chan but she always got top grades in her classes_.' The youngest Natsume sister found she couldn't complain. Hanako Obaa-chan was a very thorough instructor and though she was strict she always helped when needed. According to the Hyūga Matriarch Aya was progressing well and she saw no reason that the schedule they outlined at lunch today couldn't easily be met. Best of all Aya would be able to do tree walking that you normally weren't taught until you became a genin. Hanabi-chan was very excited to learn this as well.

It was going to be a hard week but Aya could already tell it was going to pay off. Between Masataka-kun's copious notes and a little help from Natsu-san here and there Aya found her homework was simple enough; it was just time consuming. Aya yawned and heard Natsu-san announce that dinner was ready. Deciding she was at a good stopping point; the youngest Natsume sister closed her homework up for the night. She would continue her studies after training tomorrow….

 **Wind Country, the Village of Suna**

The Kazekage and his children were having dinner together. "….And so you three children will be joining me as guards on this diplomatic expedition to Konoha." said Rasa. "As you will be in a foreign ninja village for the first time I expect model behavior from all three of you. Baki will also be accompanying us so in my absence his word is law over you three. Is that understood?"

"Yes Kazekage-sama." droned Temari and Kankuro. Gaara remained silent.

" _Is that_ _ **understood**_ _Gaara?_ " said Rasa forcefully.

"Will there be blood for Mother?" asked Gaara.

Rasa said, "No Gaara, there will be no blood and no killing. You will simply have to keep your violent tendencies in check."

Gaara said, "Then I will not go. If there is no killing than I have no purpose in going."

"You are coming _whether you like it or not_ Gaara." said Rasa to his youngest son. "If you cannot control yourself and come on this trip then I will end you this very evening."

Gaara glared hatefully at the man that cursed him with this existence. The one tailed jinchūriki knew he wasn't strong enough to kill the Kazekage at this point….perhaps in the future but not yet…. "I will go to preserve my existence then Kazekage-sama."

The tension in the air was so thick that Kankuro could hardly breathe and Temari wasn't doing much better.

Rasa nodded and relaxed a bit. "Good, we will set out tomorrow morning with a squad to protect us should it be necessary. We are expected in three days so it should be simple enough at an easy pace. Pack for a two week excursion tonight and be ready to go in the morning at dawn."

 **Tea Country, the Village of Hōrō-sha**

The crime boss Akio had mixed feelings. His boss wanted the target of their failed ambush eliminated at all costs. Unfortunately it had cost Akio seven good and loyal house ninjas. Shigure was obviously not in favor of leading another expedition out towards Hekison Village but it looked like there was little choice in the matter. Akio summoned Shigure who soon reported in to him. Shigure came in and bowed before saying, "How may I serve you Akio-sama?"

Akio sighed and said, "Shigure, I know you are reluctant about this but I need you to assemble a group and head out to Hekison Village. Scope out the target there and if she is there eliminate her. If she is not there then pursue her. These are orders from above my head Shigure; if it was left up to me I would call this off and cut our losses. Be cautious Shigure. If you can't take out the target without certainty then don't risk it; understood? There is another group of ninjas after the same target as us so you'll need to be careful of running into them too."

Shigure asked, "Akio-sama, who are the other ninjas involved? If we could link up with them it would be an advantage."

"I asked the same thing Shigure." explained Akio. "He simply told me they were missing nins and would act independently. I'm under the impression they are best avoided as they are loyal to no one but themselves."

"Then we will leave for Hekison Village tonight Akio-sama." said the house ninja.

Akio nodded. "Good luck and good hunting Shigure."

 **Wind Country, the Village of Suna**

Temari was finished packing her things and was wearing a black kimono as she prepared for bed. She stepped out into the hallway and heard Kankuro making last minute adjustments to his three puppets from his room. She also heard Gaara on the roof. It was close to a new moon and for whatever reason Gaara seemed less agitated during that phase of the moon than any other. Temari decided to go up to the roof and see her little brother. When she stepped out on the roof she saw Gaara lying there looking up at the stars almost in a trance. She considered leaving him alone since he actually looked peaceful but Gaara asked, "Temari, why are you here?"

"I came to check on you before I went to bed." said the sandy blonde girl. "You seem peaceful tonight."

"Mother doesn't talk to me as much during the new moon." said Gaara quietly.

Temari sighed softly. "About this trip….are you going to be all right Gaara?"

Gaara stared up at the sky and said, "I will never be all right Temari. You already know this. Why do you ask?"

"You are my brother just like Kankuro is." said Temari sadly. "I know you don't believe me but I care for you and do not want you to be hurt."

"You are right Temari; I don't believe you." said Gaara emotionlessly. "I can only trust Mother and myself."

The sandy blonde said, "I don't want the Kazekage to hurt you on this trip Gaara. If you lose control of your sand on this mission I fear he will kill you."

Gaara looked at Temari and their teal eyes met. "I won't lose control. I have to wait until I'm strong enough to get revenge and kill the Kazekage to prove my existence once and for all. I will kill him for you and Kankuro as well."

Temari nodded sadly. ' _For Gaara that is actually a kind thing to say_ ….' "Good night little brother, I need to go to bed."

"Good night." whispered Gaara. He wasn't aware whether or not Temari heard his words and a lot of him truly didn't care. ' _I wonder why I said that to her?_ ' wondered the red haired boy to himself.

….

When Temari stepped back inside she saw Kankuro standing there in a yukata without his war paint or cat suit on. "Did you find out anything Temari nee?" asked the puppeteer quietly.

"He said he wouldn't lose control during this trip." said Temari. "He seemed sure about it." ' _He even said good night to me_ ….' "We've got an early day tomorrow Kankuro. I'm going to bed and you should too."

The siblings wished each other a good night and both of them hoped Gaara would stay in control….

 **Tea Country, Western Forest**

Maya was on guard duty while the others slept. She saw Natsuko stealthily slipping out of Yūgao's tent to relieve herself. If there were any doubts in the silver haired beauty's mind about Natsuko being a kunoichi they were swept away by the 'Miko's' sheer stealth. Natsuko did her business and then slipped back into camp….right towards Naruto's tent. Natsuko was pretty sure she had a midnight visit with Naruto-kun in the bag when the Reiki swung down and blocked her path. Maya said, "Wrong tent Natsuko-san. You must have gotten disoriented in the dark. Come this way." said Maya as she motioned Natsuko along with her family's sacred blade.

When Natsuko reentered Yūgao's tent she felt a bit unsettled. ' _That girl Maya is no genin! She not only spotted me but she got the drop on me. Even worse, she's obviously very skilled with that nodachi. Damn her!_ '

….

It was Naruto's turn to guard and Maya already informed him of what happened earlier. She warned him that Natsuko was very stealthy. They shared a brief kiss under the starlight before Maya entered the tent she shared with Hinata. Naruto really wasn't surprised when Natsuko made an appearance later.

Natsuko slowly crawled out of Yūgao's tent. ' _Alright, everyone is asleep and my target is in sight. He's young and I should be able to turn him on with my feminine wiles. A night with me and he'll be eating out of my hand. After that, once I get my mission in Fire Country accomplished I can lure him back to my home village where he could become a seal master. Score! Everyone wins!_ ' She adjusted her Miko outfit to show a _generous_ amount of cleavage and then slowly stalked up on her prey…. _'Mmmm, Naruto-kun, you have no idea what you'll be getting tonight!_ ' she thought hungrily.

Suddenly Natsuko found she couldn't move at all and gasped. Naruto turned around and saw the Miko on all fours on the ground. "What are you doing up Natsuko-san…? Oh, I see, you set off one of my motion detector tags. Hang on while I tell everyone it's okay."

Natsuko was doing her best helpless puppy dog eyes as Naruto went over to deactivate the trap. "I'm so sorry Naruto-kun. I had a nightmare and wanted to be close to you."

Naruto said, "Well, the tag set off silent alarms that woke everyone up so you'll have plenty of company now Natsuko-san." About that time Yūgao, Hinata and Maya appeared out of their tents armed to the teeth.

"What's going on Naruto?" asked Yūgao gruffly.

"Natsuko-san set off a motion trap and got stuck in place." said Naruto. "I haven't even had time to disarm it."

Yūgao saw Natsuko in her position on the ground and said irritably, "For a Miko you sure do get into a lot of trouble. What are you doing out here crawling on the ground in the middle of the night anyway?"

"Ummm….I had a nightmare?" said Natsuko as she felt the trap deactivate.

"Riiiiight." said Yūgao. "Back into the tent with you. You and I will talk about your nightmare in there." The jonin dragged the protesting Miko back into the tent they were sharing….

After trading notes, Hinata and Maya each shared a kiss with their boyfriend before they went back to bed.

For her part Natsuko had simply given up for the night. Between everyone seeing her stuck helpless on the ground and a verbal flogging from Yūgao all she wanted to do was sleep and try to forget about the embarrassment and mortification of being caught….twice.

As a result it turned out Hinata's guard shift was quite peaceful….

POSTSCRIPT:

A lot of plot building this chapter. Things will start to converge soon. So this chapter we've seen the introduction of the Sand Siblings and a bit of their relationship with their Father the Kazekage. We also got a little more insight on the 'Miko' Natsuko. What is her actual purpose? Just as importantly will she end up murdered in her sleep by Maya and Hinata? See you next time. Blue out. 3/10/16


	30. Chapter 30

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well, the updates are continuing on as planned. So far we have had two for **_Dragon's Maw_** , two for **_Curse of the Ryugan_** , an update for **_Darkness Rising_** slipped in and **_Magik_** is planned next. Here we are with chapter 30. It wasn't my intention to make this a standalone but it turned out to be too long to just have as part of a chapter and too short to make a full chapter so I decided to present this as an interlude. Here's an interlude/chapter 30. Enjoy!

Last time:

 _Suddenly Natsuko found she couldn't move at all and gasped. Naruto turned around and saw the Miko on all fours on the ground. "What are you doing up Natsuko-san…? Oh, I see, you set off one of my motion detector tags. Hang on while I tell everyone it's okay."_

 _Natsuko was doing her best helpless puppy dog eyes as Naruto went over to deactivate the trap. "I'm so sorry Naruto-kun. I had a nightmare and wanted to be close to you."_

 _Naruto said, "Well, the tag set off silent alarms that woke everyone up so you'll have plenty of company now Natsuko-san." About that time Yūgao, Hinata and Maya appeared out of their tents armed to the teeth._

 _"What's going on Naruto?" asked Yūgao gruffly._

 _"Natsuko-san set off a motion trap and got stuck in place." said Naruto. "I haven't even had time to disarm it."_

 _Yūgao saw Natsuko in her position on the ground and said irritably, "For a Miko you sure do get into a lot of trouble. What are you doing out here crawling on the ground in the middle of the night anyway?"_

 _"Ummm….I had a nightmare?" said Natsuko as she felt the trap deactivate._

 _"Riiiiight." said Yūgao. "Back into the tent with you. You and I will talk about your nightmare in there." The jonin dragged the protesting Miko back into the tent they were sharing…._

 _After trading notes, Hinata and Maya each shared a kiss with their boyfriend before they went back to bed._

 _For her part Natsuko had simply given up for the night. Between everyone seeing her stuck helpless on the ground and a verbal flogging from Yūgao all she wanted to do was sleep and try to forget about the embarrassment and mortification of being caught….twice._

 _As a result it turned out Hinata's guard shift was quite peaceful…._

 **Chapter 30**

 **…** **.Interlude: A Passage to Hell….**

 **Tea Country, the Village of Numa no Mura**

Team 11 stopped in at the swampy village of Numa no Mura. They had travelled since sunrise and straight through the mountain forest regions only to come across an odd plateau that was swampland due to the odd weather conditions in the area. The area seemed polluted and the water tasted bad so they were relying on rations when they stopped for lunch. Seeing a major thunderstorm was coming in the made their way to Numa no Mura because the remote village was the only one in the seldom travelled area that was actually on the map. For the most part their travel had been uneventful other than the area's nasty stench and the fact that the animals seemed weak as if ill. On the positive side Natsuko had kept her hands to herself. When they arrived at the Village gates the guards there seem very suspicious to them and only let Team 11 in for a fee.

Yūgao found the Village seemed to have only a few people in it and the people they did see were rather odd looking with pasty skin as if they hadn't seen the sun in months. There was no inn or lodging to stay at and there didn't seem to be any restaurants either. The village houses were all very old and in poor upkeep. Their windows were either boarded up or covered with heavy drapery so you couldn't see inside. "This town almost looks as if it was abandoned Yūgao-sensei." said Maya. "I don't feel very comfortable here. My gut instinct is something is very wrong in this place."

"Hinata-chan, can you see anything?" asked Yūgao quietly. "Something does seem a bit off here."

The Hyūga kunoichi activated her byakugan and whispered, "There are people in all of the houses. They all seem to be watching us through cracks in the boards. They all look malformed."

"In what way Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto. Thunder crashed overhead and it began to rain as the clouds grew thicker and the sky darkened. The paths in the village quickly were turning to mud.

Hinata said over the noise of the storm, "They all look kind of lizard-like. I don't know how else to describe it."

As there was no shelter to be seen the group got up against a larger house to shield themselves from the rain. "We may as well have stayed out in the wilderness than come here." said Natsuko. The others couldn't help but agree as the storm was growing worse and the sky grew even darker.

They saw one of the odd villagers come out of their house out into the street. It had a malformed chameleon like head and seemingly lidless eyes that stared unblinking into the sky as the rain came down. They assumed it was a male from the style of dress. Maya was trying to place if she'd ever seem such a creature before and the look of the thing in the lightning flashes wasn't reassuring. It looked at them and it's white, clammy skin contrasted wildly with its blackened, shark like teeth. It started to limp towards them at a slow pace with its hands reaching out towards them. They could all plainly see that its hands were webbed by now.

Hinata reactivated her byakugan and gasped, "They are all coming out of the houses in the storm; the whole village is trying to surround us!"

Yūgao drew her katana and said, "Everyone draw your weapons. You too Priestess."

Suddenly one of the creatures fell to all fours and jumped with incredible speed towards them. Maya slashed the creature with the Reiki in the darkness and the creature let out a horrid shriek that was anything but human. The creatures lunged at Team 11 and their client and a violent melee broke out in the muddy streets. Naruto had one of the creatures head butt him so hard that he crashed through the boards of the house behind him. He was stunned but saw a horror inside the house. It was lined like a nest and a dozen child sized versions of the creatures tried to grab him and attempted to feed upon his flesh. They didn't penetrate his armored mesh and Naruto managed the throw the little demons off him. Standing back up he drew the Kurimuzo and in a flash three of the little monsters were bisected. The rest shrieked and closed for the kill….

Hinata managed to keep the creatures at a distance using the Hakutsume blades. The Hyūga Heiress was no slouch but she was getting bogged down in the mud and the creatures simply glided over it. ' _I have to get off the ground, I'm getting slower and they are getting faster!_ ' Hinata jumped onto the wall of a nearby house and quickly climbed to the roof with chakra. Several creatures tried to jump up there with her but Hinata's twin kodachis kept killing them or knocking them back off the roof. Hinata was looking around desperately trying to find the others but they were nowhere to be found….

Maya had grabbed Natsuko and rushed towards the gates to protect the client. The creatures were in hot pursuit. When they reached the villages rickety gates Maya did a roundhouse kick to smash them open only for an electrical field to shock her badly. Maya collapsed face down in the mud. The last thing she saw was Natsuko being overwhelmed as she battled with her naginata….

….

 **Location Unknown**

Yūgao woke up. She was securely bound to a wall by tendrils in some kind of damp, subterranean cave. Torches lined the walls and the place glowed in a haunting twilight. She saw the creatures all gathered there and they seemed to be singing/moaning some sort of dirge. The place was wet and smelled of mold. Yūgao struggled a bit and found the tendrils were actually vines with thorns on them. ' _If I wasn't wearing ANBU armor under my uniform I would have been ripped to shreds by these things_.' thought the sword mistress. She saw Maya hanging on the opposite wall in a similar position to herself. The teenage girl's silver hair blocked any view Yūgao had of her face. The jonin couldn't even tell if her student was alive or not. ' _Please just be asleep Maya-chan_.' thought Yūgao in fear. ' _Gods, how long was I unconscious? I remember being hit in the back of the head while fighting and then I blacked out_.'

One of the creatures came over to Yūgao. It was different from the others in that it was taller and stood and walked more upright and human like. To the purple haired jonin it looked like a white gecko. It said in a croaky voice, "I see you are awake my pet. Several of my children died to take you and that one alive." it said motioning towards Maya.

"What _are_ you?" asked Yūgao harshly.

It let out a raspy chuckle and said, "I _was_ this village's shaman and healer but I became something….more. _Much more!_ "

The purple haired woman was stunned. "You are saying you were human?! What happened to this village?"

The shaman said, "Hmmm….It's been awhile since I actually conversed with someone. My children obey me but they aren't particularly smart since they changed."

"Why did they change? How did you become like this?" asked Yūgao with a bit of fear.

The Shaman motioned around him grandly. "This was the home of a demon that roamed the land in my youth. It is underground below Numa no Mura. Its presence was so powerful that the land and the weather changed from a grassy mountain plateau into the swampland it is today. My own grandfather sacrificed himself to seal it here and my parents wasted their lives away keeping the demon's poison from rotting the earth. When they died I took up the mantle but there was no one after me. I was old, so old that I could barely get around myself. As I felt my life slowly ebbing away the poison started to flow and mutate the area. I prayed for guidance from the gods to help me and no answers came….that was a hundred years ago and I was already over a hundred years old."

Yūgao was dumbfounded. If this creature was telling the truth then it was over two hundred years old and was once a human being.

The shaman clapped its webbed hands and said, "That's when I had a revelation! I could absorb the demon's power and protect the village forever. I spoke to the demon and in exchange for the power to live I would set it free. I fooled the demon though and kept absorbing its power until **_I_** and **_I alone_** controlled the poison. Through it **_I_** control the land and **_I_** control the people…. ** _I AM A GOD_** and the demon is no more. Now my children only exist and live to serve me!" The shaman started cackling wildly. "You should feel honored that I have deemed you worthy of speaking to _mortal!_ "

' _This creature is insane_.' thought Yūgao. ' _He has become a demon himself_.'

….

 **The Village of Numa no Mura**

Hinata was lying on the roof of the house she'd chosen as her battleground last night in the sunlight. When morning had come the creatures withdrew and she was victorious. Dozens of them died and their bodies littered the ground around the house. When the creatures withdrew Hinata was so exhausted from the hours of fighting through the night that she nearly collapsed. Hinata slept for hours but nothing disturbed her while she was asleep. When she awoke the first thing Hinata noticed was it was in the early afternoon from the position of the sun. She activated her tired byakugan eyes to look for the others.

The first thing Hinata noticed was an energy barrier lining the village. ' _That wasn't there last night_.' She thought to herself. Hinata saw dozens of bodies of the creatures stinking in the sun. The sights and smells made her want to vomit. She saw Natsuko outside the gates of the village on the other side of the barrier. She didn't look badly injured but was tied up, gagged and lying on the ground. The two guards were talking to each other and her although Hinata was too far away to tell what they were saying. ' _Natsuko is in trouble but it seems she's just a prisoner for now. What is that barrier I'm seeing? Where are Naruto-kun, Maya-chan and Yūgao-sensei?!_ ' That's when Hinata noticed a pattern painted on the earth. It started at the center of the village and it expanded outwards in a spiral from there. She traced the pattern with her eyes and it finally led to her Naruto-kun! He was sitting on the ground in the shade and Hinata quickly roof hopped over to see him.

….

Naruto was exhausted. A house caved in on him during the fighting last night and he nearly drowned in the mud. It was a miracle he was even alive. Naruto spent part of the morning searching for the others but couldn't find anyone until he found the guards at the gates.

 _Flashback…._

 _Naruto threw a kunai at the gates but some kind of barrier was there that stopped it midair with an electric shock. He saw the two guards that let them into the village the night before._

 _Naruto came close to the gates and said, "Open the gates and let me out. I have to search for my friends!"_

 _The taller guard said, "Damn, you're still alive? You must be one tough ninja. Anyway, you're probably the only one left until they come back out tonight. The barrier won't let you out unless we open the gates and we aren't going to risk you getting out if you're that strong. We've got this priestess out here cause she's a babe and will fetch a good price on the market as a sex slave."_

 _"WHAT?! You knew about these….these monsters?!" yelled Naruto._

 _"Of course we did." said the shorter guard. "We get a good salary to let fools in so the old man can do whatever he wants with them."_

 _Naruto was stunned. "How could you do that? You're basically feeding human beings to animals! Just as bad you'd do that to a Miko?!"_

 _"Money talks kid." said the taller guard. "If I were you I'd take my own life. The gods only know what the old man will have in store for you if you're alive when the sun goes down."_

 _Flashback end_ ….

Naruto hadn't found any traces of the girls or their weapons on the ground, just dried mud and dead creatures _everywhere_. There were so many around one house he couldn't get near it because of the smell. He soon set up a sealing array to detect the source of the barrier and found it originated underground. After testing the nature of the barrier with a few seals made by shadow clones Naruto discovered what kind of seal he needed to create to suck up the barrier's energy. Naruto figured if he couldn't disrupt the barrier then he'd absorb it into a seal.

Thus Naruto and his clones had a horrifying job to do. After laying out the pattern for the seal in the soft earth, Naruto and his shadow clones had to find a plentiful source of chakra conductive liquid to paint the seal with. As disgusting as it was the blood of the many slain creatures _was_ chakra conductive and there was _plenty_ of it….gallons really. Naruto got sick on a couple of occasions but he pressed on until the sealing array was done. He was sitting in the shade resting before he activated it. Naruto was tired. That's when he heard a noise on a roof close and he saw his Hinata-chan!

The blonde ninja was trying to stand up when Hinata landed in front of him and nearly tackled him to the ground. She sobbed out, " _Naruto-kun!_ " as she held onto him for dear life.

Naruto hugged his girlfriend tightly as tears spilled out of his eyes and he whispered, "Hinata-chan!" The pair held on to each other tightly and cried for a few minutes before they brought themselves back under control emotionally and sat down together to talk. The young couple explained to one another exactly what had happened to each of them last night.

"So this power source is underground Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata.

Naruto nodded. "The center of my sealing array is directly above the source Hinata-chan."

Hinata motioned towards her eyes and smiled. "Let's go have a look then."

 **Underground**

Yūgao saw Maya wake up with a start. Maya looked around wildly before she saw her sensei hanging on the wall opposite to her. "Sensei!" whispered Maya.

The purple haired woman nodded wearily and said quietly; "We're both tied up very securely Maya-chan and our weapons are down there on the floor out of reach. Even using chakra to enhance my strength I haven't been able to break these vines. If I even had access to one kunai I could cut us loose."

Maya sagged a bit but then got a gleam in her eye. The silver haired girl suddenly smiled and winked at Yūgao and channeled chakra into her wrists. The jonin was dumbfounded when a kunai appeared in each over her student's hands and she began to cut her way loose quickly. ' _Maya-chan had invisible seals painted on her wrists by Naruto-kun. He never ceases to amaze me_.'

Maya landed quietly on the floor in a crouch seconds later and quickly put on all her gear. She quickly drew the Reiki and whispered, "Ready Sensei?"

Yūgao nodded and four slashes of the Reiki later she was free of her bindings and crouched on the floor in front of Maya picking up her weapons. "Your boyfriend's seals are a life-saver Maya-chan." said the purple haired jonin quietly.

Maya smiled and nodded before she blushed and realized she'd just admitted Naruto was her boyfriend to Yūgao. She was going to say something when the shaman's croaky voice said, "My, what clever girls you mortals are….And here I was almost ready to have you sacrificed to me. (Sigh) "I guess I'll just have to render you harmless myself or I'll lose even more of my children to those swords of yours."

"What in the **hell** are you?" asked Maya rudely. "A talking albino gecko?"

"Tut, tut my dear child. **_I am a god_**." said the shaman.

" ** _He's a demon_**." corrected Yūgao as she drew her katana.

Maya smiled manically and said, "Gods and demons die too you know." She leveled the Reiki into the ready position and it began to hum slightly in tune with her chakra. Maya moved in a blur to decapitate the shaman. The Reiki struck the side of his long neck before it ricocheted back causing the shocked Maya to go tumbling back past her equally stunned sensei.

The shaman ran his finger all the tiny cut in his neck and said irritably, "I actually **_felt_** that little girl. It may only be a paper cut but it stings nonetheless. You have defiled me you unwholesome child. **_Your suffering is going to be legendary for insulting a god!_** "

Both sensei and student screamed as bolts of energy lashed out at them from the shaman's raised fingers….

 **In the Village above**

"They are directly below us Naruto kun!" said Hinata with wide eyes. "The person that is the source of the power is arcing it in bolts of energy towards Maya-chan and Yūgao-sensei!"

"Stand back Hinata-chan." said Naruto as he cut his palm and slammed it into the center of the seal painted on the ground. "Fuinjutsu: Greater Evil Absorption Seal!" The entire village lit up with the raw power of the seal Naruto had created and the seal began to draw energy into itself starting with the corpses of the white creatures lying nearby….

 **Underground**

The shaman's bolts of energy arced away from Yūgao and Maya straight up through the ceiling of the cave and even out of the tiny cut in the shaman's neck. " ** _WHAT IS THIS?!_** **"** screamed the shaman. " ** _My power! I can't stop it! It's being pulled right out of my body!_** **"** He was screaming in agony as he clenched his raised hands into fists and attempted to pull them down to his sides and away from whatever force was tugging on them stronger than even gravity.

Maya was stumbling to get back up but Yūgao was already on her feet. She body flickered in front of the shaman and sliced his gut open horizontally which made him shriek in pain as she body flickered away. Energy was gushing out of the gaping wound when Yūgao appeared beside her student and said viciously, "He's not invincible now."

Maya was going to decapitate the creature when the shaman suddenly was pulled upwards by the stream of energy exiting his abdominal wound. Both women took a step back as the shaman's 'children' came racing in to attack but their bodies started to disintegrate the moment the stepped in the range of Naruto's seal.

 **In the Village above**

Naruto watched with grim satisfaction as the bodies of the creatures broke down and left human skeletons behind. ' _Whatever the hell they were I guess they must have been human once_.' He watched as the seal increased its power greater and greater from whatever creature below was being drained of its power.

Hinata deactivated her byakugan. "Maya-chan and Yūgao-sensei are both alright but the energy from the seal is so bright I can't look at it!"

"It's alright Hinata-chan; as long as we know they're all right." said Naruto "Let's just let the seal do its work. Shadow clone jutsu!" Ten shadow clones appeared. "Wait by the village gates; as soon as that barrier falls rescue Natsuko. The two guards are expendable if they can't be knocked out quickly." The ten clones saluted and took off towards the village gates.

 **Underground**

The creatures were dying in droves by now and the energy that corrupted the cave was being drawn out using the screaming shaman as a power conduit. Yūgao and Maya watched the macabre spectacle as the creatures died leaving behind a pile of human skeletons. Even the vines on the wall withered and died as the energy was leeched out of them.

The desperate shaman started sending bolts of energy he was drawing from the dying creatures to fight his way to the surface to stop whatever was taking his power. He felt the poison of the polluted land fading and it took all of his effort to draw it from the swampy countryside leaving withered plants and animals behind to die. There was a shockwave as the poison all entered the shaman at once to increase his power to phenomenal levels. Maya and Yūgao were knocked back by the wave of power as the shaman broke to the surface of the ground and found himself in the center of a sealing array of colossal complexity he couldn't begin to comprehend.

The shaman saw Naruro and Hinata standing away from the center of the seal and he unleashed a massive energy bolt to kill the two teenagers. _It wasn't enough_. The bolt simply was absorbed into the seal leaving Naruto and Hinata unscathed. That's when the shaman fell to his knees and began to lose his gecko like form. He was withering away rapidly as the tainted energy that kept him alive was pulled out. The barrier and the entire village was flashing and arcing as the last vestiges of the power were being absorbed. The shaman's eyes locked on Naruto and he saw an Uzumaki spiral painted on Naruto's hand in blood to charge the seal if needed.

" _N-no!_ " rasped out the old shaman as he withered into a frail, two hundred year old man. " _An-an Uzu-m-maki! Only they could d-destroy a god with their infernal seals! C-curse you boy!_ " It was all over in a flash and the shaman/creature was nothing but an ancient man that was dying fast as the final bits of energy left his fragile body and entered a complex fuinjutsu array Naruto had on a scroll. When the last bit of energy was absorbed the scroll rolled up tightly and a seal with the kanji for ' _evil_ ' appeared on it.

 **Numa no Mura Village Gates**

Both guards watched in befuddlement as the barrier kept crackling in and out of visibility to the naked eye. Then it fell entirely. "What the hell is going on?!" said the taller one.

Naruto's ten clones leaped over the gate and the two guards died in an instant before they could react. One of the shadow clones went over and freed Natsuko from her bindings and she immediately wrapped her arms around him and started crying into his chest. She said, "Naruto-kun! They were going to sell me! They told me all of you were dead and that those horrid creatures ate you!"

The shadow clone consoling Natsuko turned his brothers and said, "One of you dispel and tell the boss that the priestess is safe."

 **At the center of the village**

Yūgao and Maya hopped up through the hole in the cavern roof and saw Hinata and Naruto. They saw the massive sealing array that was literally burnt into the earth as well. The old shaman looked like a mummy more than a human now. ' _I-I was a god_ ….' he croaked.

The jonin glared at him with hard eyes and said, "Die and go to whatever hell you are destined for you old fossil. The world won't miss a _god_ the likes of you." The shaman tried to say something else but his body crumbled into dust before he could utter another sound….

 **Hours later….**

Team 11 and Natsuko watched from a distance as Numa no Mura burned into ash. The skeletons, the cave, the town and the bodies of the two guards burned to the ground leaving nothing even marking a grave of the self proclaimed 'god' and his 'children.' They were all tired and dirty but Hinata checked them all over thoroughly and healed the injuries they had. By morning the village was nothing but smoldering embers and Team 11 had left without looking back.

 _Numa no Mura had ceased to exist_ ….

…. **Interlude end** ….

POSTSCRIPT:

Upon proofreading this I came to the conclusion there was a bit of H.P. Lovecraft's influence here which is odd since I haven't read any of his work in years. At any rate I hope everyone enjoyed this little side story. Next chapter we'll return to the regular story line and catch up with what everyone else was doing while Team 11 was fighting in Numa no Mura. See you next time. Blue out. 3/12/16


	31. Chapter 31

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This chapter catches up some of the goings on with everyone else while Team 11 was in Numa no Mura so we're jumping around a bit. It's primarily filler but things need to be organized for the upcoming meeting between the Kazekage and the Hokage….and another fateful meeting. Here is chapter 31. Enjoy!

Last time:

 ** _At the center of the village_**

 _Yūgao and Maya hopped up through the hole in the cavern roof and saw Hinata and Naruto. They saw the massive sealing array that was literally burnt into the earth as well. The old shaman looked like a mummy more than a human now. '_ _I-I was a god…._ _' he croaked._

 _The jonin glared at him with hard eyes and said, "Die and go to whatever hell you are destined for you old fossil. The world won't miss a_ _god_ _the likes of you." The shaman tried to say something else but his body crumbled into dust before he could utter another sound…._

 ** _Hours later…._**

 _Team 11 and Natsuko watched from a distance as Numa no Mura burned into ash. The skeletons, the cave, the town and the bodies of the two guards burned to the ground leaving nothing even marking a grave of the self proclaimed 'god' and his 'children.' They were all tired and dirty but Hinata checked them all over thoroughly and healed the injuries they had. By morning the village was nothing but smoldering embers and Team 11 had left without looking back._

 _Numa no Mura had ceased to exist…._

 **Chapter 31**

 **Wind Country, the Village of Suna**

It was early morning and the Kazekage and his party were ready to go on their trip to Konoha. Baki came up and saluted. All preparations are completed Kazekage-sama." said the Jonin.

Rasa nodded as he looked over at his three children. They were carrying themselves professionally although everyone but Kankuro and Temari shied away from Gaara's presence. "Let's set out." ordered the Kazekage. "We'll be moving at a normal pace but our formation needs to remain tight. We cannot let our guard down even in the safety of our own territory." Hearing a round of affirmatives the Kazekage's group set out on their mission.

' _Here we go on our_ _ **family vacation**_.' thought Temari darkly. ' _At least we're armed to the teeth. If anyone is stupid enough to cross us I'll protect my brothers_.'

Kankuro was of a similar mindset to his sister. ' _I can tell nee-chan's blood is up as much as mine is_.' He glanced briefly a Gaara who was staring ahead of them in a stoic manner. ' _At least Gaara seems calm. This trip is just_ _ **begging**_ _for trouble. I hope you stay under control Gaara. It would almost be better if we_ _ **were**_ _attacked. At least then we could all blow off some steam and Gaara could satiate his bloodlust. What the hell is the Kazekage thinking?_ '

A dark cloud seemed to hang over the three Sand Siblings as the followed their Father out into the desert….

 **Hot Springs Country, outside the Village of Hayase**

Team 10 was camping out in the foliage deep in Hot Springs Country waiting for their contacts for a joint assassination mission with some Kiri ninjas. This was the third mission they'd taken involving killing. The first and second had been wiping out some minor bandit camps. During the last few weeks Jonin Mitarashi Anko had brutally trained her three genins Nara Shikamaru, Isuzu Emi and Yamanaka Ino into and well oiled fighting machine. Truthfully she couldn't have been prouder of her team. It had been hard on them as the first thing she had to teach them was killing. It wasn't a pretty sight seeing all three of her advanced genins violently throwing up after their first kills. Anko had to explain to them this was the line of work they were getting into and talked to each of them to make sure they were all right. Fortunately, Yūgao's _ANBU Brat_ training made it a lot easier and Team 10 actually handled it a lot better than Anko expected.

Once she beat some of the laziness out of Shikamaru and forced him to use his supersized brain in all kinds of horrific strategic and tactical situations the Snake Jonin realized he could be an admirable leader once motivated properly. Anko enjoyed working with Ino once she had disciplined the sassy blonde a bit. As for Emi; the redhead's ability to battle in a kunai fight was unbelievably high. Now Anko was working on polishing both girls' taijutsu. Ino was learning the snake style from Anko and Emi was quite proficient with the Akimichi style even though she didn't use conventional body expansion techniques….

 _Flashback…._

 _Emi was sitting alone with Anko and was in her expanded, chubby form. Anko's eyes nearly popped out of her head. The purple haired Jonin said, "You've actually created an entirely new form of Akimichi jutsus that work in reverse of body expansion?! That's incredible Emi-chan!" Anko was practically drooling. "With those jutsus I could eat all the dango I want and still be incredibly sexy! This is the best jutsu for a woman I've ever seen!"_

 _Emi was blushing as she shifted back to her 'normal' voluptuous and slender self. "It's a big secret Anko-sensei. I don't want anyone to know I'm heavy like my family."_

 _Anko said, "Emi, you're not heavy. You're anything you want to be. I think you being that creative is quite admirable."_

 _The red haired girl formed a bond with her sensei that day knowing she could trust Anko with her secret._

 _Flashback end…._

"Remember to be respectful of our Kiri associates team." lectured Anko. "Sometimes dealing with foreign ninjas can be very delicate. The mission is paramount above personal differences so do your best to get along."

 _Several trees over_ ….

Momichi Zabuza was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. He was a total badass and he was proud of it. He also felt like hell from food poisoning. Even worse he caught a glimpse of who they were working with….Zabuza shivered. "Why did it have to be the _Snake Princess?!_ I've got the runs and she'll never let me live this down. What are we going to _do_ Haku-chan?"

The rather lovely kunoichi of Zabuza's genin team Yuki Haku was standing upwind of her master with a sweat drop. "Zabuza-sama; I told you, Kimimaro-kun and Suigetsu-kun **_not_** to eat that fish. But did you three listen to me? _Oooooh nooooo!_ Now Kimamaro and Suigetsu are stuck in alternating trips to the bathroom back in town and you're out here standing on your last leg through sheer willpower. I'm the team's medic! ….Who is this Snake Princess anyway?"

Zabuza miserably passed a bit of methane ~ _proot_ ~ and said, "Well, she's-"

Anko appeared above them and promptly through all notions of the diplomacy she'd been preaching to her students out the window. "I'm one of those few that know hiding behind that big, bad Executioner's Blade that Momichi Zabuza is in fact, a _total dork!_ "

Zabuza sweat dropped and Haku looked shocked. "Must you be so cruel Snake Princess?" asked the swordsman. "How did you find us anyway?"

"I was downwind of you once the wind shifted Momichi." said Anko with a flat look. "My whole team smelled you and you look jaundiced. What the hell happened to you? I mean, even when I kicked your ass in that bar years ago and my snakes poisoned you, your appearance was better than it is now."

"I ate some bad fish and I'm paying dearly for it." said Zabuza despondently.

The rest of Anko's team came into view. Anko said to Haku, "I'm Mitarashi Anko and this is Team 10." She proceeded to introduce them one by one. Anko then turned to her team. "Guys, this is Momichi Zabuza, ' _The Demon of the Hidden Mist_.' Despite his idiocy he is an incredible swordsman and highly skilled ninja. Although I have to wonder if he shouldn't be in a hospital instead of out here…."

Haku cringed at her Master's rather pathetic appearance….and the fact he was openly gawking at Emi's rack. The ice wielding kunoichi got a tick mark and roundhouse kicked her master away. " _Honestly_ Zabuza-sama! I know you have a thing for red heads with large busts but show a _little_ class! Emi-san is my age! It's no wonder Terumi Mei-san won't give you the time of day. You're always staring at her chest instead of her face!"

"Sorry Haku-chan…." groaned Zabuza as he laid on the ground. "But she's got a really nice set of-"

" _Not one more word….we look bad enough as it is_." hissed Haku. Turning back to Team 10 Haku bowed politely and said, "I am Yuki Haku, genin kunoichi of the Mist Village and I'm very pleased to meet you. I'm afraid my two teammates and my Master are quite ill but I should be able to continue the mission with no issues."

Anko exploded into laughter. "I like you already Haku-chan!"

 **Fire Country, the Village of Konoha**

Tsunade was standing before the entirety of the ROOT ANBU forces gathered in front of her. Every single one of them except the one called Sai was there as he was out on a mission with Team 7. To her side was ANBU Commander Dragon. She forced herself to remain calm despite the potential powder keg in front of her eyes.

"I've called all of you that were formerly in ROOT here for a very important reason. All of you remove your masks so I may see your faces." said the Fifth Hokage authoritatively. After all of them hesitantly complied Tsunade saw the looks on their faces. They looked emotionless, tired and pale from never seeing the sun. It made her pity them. ' _These poor souls have no lives outside of ROOT_.' she thought sadly.

Tsunade continued. "Your former Master Shimura Danzo is dead. No doubt many of you have wondered about his absence. He was executed for high treason against Konoha and the office of the Hokage. I'm giving all of you a very simple choice. You may continue to serve Konoha and the Hokage's Office as regular ANBU, standard ninjas or you may resign. The seals on your tongues are gone since Danzo is dead. You may speak freely, one at a time."

There was a quiet murmur among the various ROOT members and they immediately started saying small things to each other that would no doubt cause their tongue seals to activate. Within a few minutes all of them were in agreement; Shimura Danzo was indeed dead. A younger woman asked, "Hokage-sama, what is the act of treason that Danzo-sama was executed for? He was absolutely loyal to Konoha."

Tsunade was a bit astonished. The young woman didn't seem angry in any way, just inquisitive. "What is your name?" asked the Hokage.

A slight look of surprise filtered across the young woman's face. "My name is Akane, Hokage-sama."

The Fifth Hokage nodded. "Akane, Shimura Danzo was conspiring to eliminate the Third Hokage for a second time and was responsible for the deaths of the Uchiha Clan. He conspired with Orochimaru and harvested the sharingan eyes of that clan in order to create an artificial arm with Orochimaru's help. The snake is a traitor and any dealings with him are traitorous as well. We have found countless other things Danzo is responsible for since his death. If any of you doubt my words his body along with that abomination of an arm he had has been preserved in the morgue should you wish to view it. Are there any among you that doubt Shimura Danzo was guilty of high treason?"

Another young ROOT member with his ginger hair in a ponytail said, "I am Yamanaka Fū. I am the most skilled sensor in ROOT. Hokage-sama is being absolutely truthful with us. There is no reason to doubt her judgment in this matter." Yamanaka Fū was known for his fierce loyalty to Danzo and his words actually shocked the ROOT members to the core as much as finding out Shimura Danzo was dead. Fū added, "I am loyal to Konoha and will serve the Hokage in whatever capacity the village needs of me."

It took a couple of hours but every last member of ROOT swore their loyalty to Konoha and the Hokage. Several of them seemed very torn about Danzo's death but _all_ of them were loyal to their village first. Tsunade was tired when the last of them finished swearing in. They were issued with new standard Konoha Ninja I.D.'s and were scheduled to be tested by ANBU for all of their _true_ abilities (most had remained hidden at Danzo's orders) so they could be put in an appropriate position to reflect their skills. After Tsunade dismissed them she returned to her office. ' _At least the old warhawk taught them to be loyal to the village. I was afraid I'd have to put them all to death_.' Unknown to the now former ROOT agents; Tsunade had them monitored from all sides while they were being sworn in. If a single one of them showed even a _twinge_ of disloyalty then they quickly would have been removed….

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Team 9 was visiting the Natsume Clan home at the invitation (read: command) of Hyūga Hanako-sama since she wanted to meet her grandson Neji's team. Neji was petrified that Gai-sensei would explode into the _Flames of Youth_ and Hanako Obaa-chan would extinguish them…. _forever_. As it was they were having a nice chat about Gai's Father which his three students knew precious little about. "Maito Dai would be proud of the man you've grown up to be Gai." said Hanako kindly. "Dai wasn't the most skilled or powerful ninja but for all his quirks he was among the most admirable I ever met. You are his legacy Gai. Be proud of that fact."

Gai had tears in his eyes. "I thank you Hanako-sama. My Father would be honored by your words." They spoke awhile and much to Lee's excitement and Tenten and Neji's horror they found out that Gai had _not_ been dropped upon his head too many times. It was _Maito Dai_ that invented the _Flames of Youth_. It seemed he created the Eight Gates technique as well.

….

Hanabi was soon sparring with Neji in the Natsume family dojo with Hanako and the others watching. The nine year old was going all out against her cousin who found himself enjoying teaching his younger cousin. Finally he reached out and flicked her forehead like Hanako Obaa-chan often did with him.

"Ow!" squeaked Hanabi. "What was that for Neji nii-san?"

Neji gave a ghost of a smile. "You were so focused on attacking that you left yourself wide open to a counter Hanabi-sama. You need to mind your defense as well."

Tenten was soon sparring a bit with Hanako. She was thrilled to learn some new sword moves from Hanako whose mastery of the kodachi was matched by few to say the least.

In spite of Neji's initial fears, it turned out to be a very enjoyable visit for Gai's Team.

As they left Gai said to his students, "That was a very _youthful_ visit. We must do this again sometime. Hanako-sama is a great kunoichi and a testament to the _Flames of Youth!_ "

Lee added, "Hanako-sama's _Flames of Youth_ burn so brightly Neji-kun. You are very fortunate to have such a great Obaa-sama!"

"I agree!" gushed Tenten. "Hanako-sama is awesome Neji!"

Neji smiled softly and nodded in concurrence. ' _I really_ _ **am**_ _lucky to have Hanako Obaa-sama in my life. She showed me just how wrong I was about Hinata-sama and I've grown closer to her and Hanabi-sama. It makes me proud to be their cousin_.'

 **Hot Springs Country, the Village of Hayase**

~ _proot_ ~ "….I'll – _I'll be out in a minute!_ " called Zabuza weakly from within the stall. ~ _proot_ ~

" _Oh gods_ ….I can't bear anymore of this horrific flatulence." groaned Shikamaru. "It's too damn troublesome. Let's just go already Anko-sensei. Zabuza-san is going to _die_ in there. At least let's finish the job so he can be awarded with a good record posthumously."

Anko smiled savagely. "I like the way you think Shikamaru." She called into the stall, "We're going to head out now Zabuza- _chan!_ You just be a good boy and we'll finish our business while you finish _yours_."

Haku said, "Please take care of yourself and I'll be back soon Zabuza-sama….And take your medicine to settle your stomach!"

"Yes, take your medicine Zabuza-chan!" laughed Anko. " _Ahahaha!_ It brings a tear to my eye….You haven't changed a bit since we were teenagers!"

' _The Snake Princess….that woman has_ _ **no**_ _heart_ ….' mentally moaned Zabuza with tears in his eyes. "Be careful Haku; that's an order!" called out Zabuza from his private throne room.

….

Once they were on the move, Anko was suddenly serious. "Alright Haku, I assume you have some mastery over the Yuki ice wielding bloodline?"

Haku nodded. "Yes Mitarashi-san, I have a good grasp of it. I also use senbons as my primary weapon."

"No doubt you can make ice senbons as well then." said Anko. At Haku's nod the snake jonin said, "Alright, I can't ask for all your abilities but is it safe to say you specialize in pinpoint strikes? –And just call me Anko or Anko-sensei."

The ice using kunoichi smiled and said, "Yes, I can even hit a target the size of an acorn from fifty yards Anko-sensei."

Anko had feral grin on her face. "Between you and Emi-chan here this job is going to be a cinch. Our main issue is supposed to be lots of guards. You two can deal with the mass of fodder at long range while the rest of us slip in and assassinate the crime boss here in the area. His name is Hikoki. Let's go scope it out."

 **Fire Country, near Otafuku Gai**

Team 7 composed of Sarutobi Asuma, Akimichi Choji, Haruno Sakura and Sai were having an impromptu team meeting out in the woods.

"There is a valuable lesson to be learned here people." said a soot covered Sarutobi Asuma. His clothes were smoking more than the lit cigarette he had clenched in his teeth. White fluff seemed to be liberally sprinkled upon him. "Once my ears stop ringing perhaps I'll be able to figure out what it is."

Choji was sitting on the ground covered in dirt with his hair smoking. "How about _simple plans are best_ Asuma-sensei?"

Asuma nodded. "While that's very true I don't think that's quite what I had in mind Choji."

Sakura held her hand up. Her face was completely blackened and in appeared that her emerald eyes were afire with sheer hatred. Her pink hair seemed to be blown out like she'd been caught in a tornado. White fluff was covering her making her look like she had some sort of snow camouflage on. " _Shannaro!_ I think the lesson is _Sai is a complete and utter idiot_." she said as glared at Sai.

"What do you think Sai?" asked Asuma as he flicked more fluff off of him.

Sai was also covered in soot and looked thoughtful for a moment before he said, "I believe the lesson is _Naruto-san's demolition level exploding tags can solve almost any problem set before us_."

" ** _I DON'T THINK THAT'S IT SAI!_** " roared Choji and Sakura in unison.

"You chucked a **demolition tag** into a warehouse full of wool!" screeched Sakura. "The entire damn building is a crater and we had to run away before the local samurai caught us and locked us up for an act of terrorism!"

Choji added, "The missing nins hiding in there were D-ranked! All we had to do was knock them out instead of blowing them all to kingdom come!"

Sai answered, "Asuma-sensei told me to make a distraction. It was quite effective if I say so myself…. _I didn't mean to grab that demolition tag….I was trying to grab a flash bang tag_."

Asuma said, "Well, I think a good lesson here is _a good ninja's organization skills are paramount_. Wouldn't you three agree?"

"Yes sensei…." said his three genins miserably.

The chain smoking jonin sighed. "At any rate, the missing ninja problem in the area is solved but we can't take the credit because it would implicate us on blowing up a warehouse full of expensive wool and Konoha would have to pay the bill. I'm going to teach you all about the fine art of black ops. That is to say; we're going to clean up and race to the scene of the explosion while covering up all evidence we were there to begin with. If anything is left indicating the missing nins were even there then we'll claim it was a mass suicide. Let's clean ourselves up and get ready to start lying threw our teeth people. While we may not get paid for a successful mission; at least we won't lose our jobs either."

Asuma was actually quite pleased with his team. They were very smart and generally did quite well. Team 7 was also speedy and efficient which made his job easier. Sadly, Yūgao's training meant that his three little genins carried enough weaponry to take out entire brigades of soldiers in one strike and they didn't believe in the concept of overkill…. ' _I'll say one thing for them. They eliminated a nest of low ranked missing nins in record time….Shame about the warehouse though_ ….'

Team 7 still had a lot to learn….

 **Hot Springs Country, south of the Village of Hayase**

Anko and Team 10 (plus Haku) had thoroughly scouted the rather large estate of the crime lord Hikoki they'd been hired to assassinate. He was a rather disgusting old man that made his money dealing in the slave trade. He'd bought off all of the local enforcement so the Daimyo decided to hire outside ninjas to do the job. The Daimyo's own private forces would move in the next morning to 'assist' if needed. The estate was surrounded by a ten foot wooden protection fence with a scaffold inside the guards could patrol around on. The tops of the fence posts were sharpened and did _look_ rather intimidating -even if they were worthless against a ninja. There were about forty guards lazing about that looked like they were run of the mill thugs more than anything. Beyond them were the slave pens and then the mansion itself.

Anko looked through binoculars at the place and said, "Shame Zabuza and your teammates couldn't join the party Haku-chan; he was always good at exterminating masses of rats while running around under that Hidden Mist Jutsu of his. It's damned effective in situations like this."

"You seem to know Zabuza-sama fairly well Anko-sensei." said Haku.

"Believe it or not he and I were both chunins and our teams had to join forces to get out of a sticky situation." explained Anko as she added some details to the map the estate. "Anyway, after our teams won the bunch of us went a couple of villages over to celebrate and hit the bars. Zabuza started hitting on me and I hit him back with a right hook. When it was all said and done the bar was totally demolished and I chased Zabuza and his friends off by poisoning them with some minor snake toxins. I could have summoned something more lethal but I was kind of drunk and decided to be nice by making them all violently ill instead."

Haku and Anko's three genins all sweat dropped. '…. _She decided to be nice by making them all violently ill?_ ' they all thought as one.

Anko wondered why the four genins were all staring at her blankly. Shrugging it off she said, "It looks like we've got the Hikoki Estate mapped out pretty thoroughly. We want to avoid exposing the slaves to any further injury or mistreatment. Take your targets out quickly and efficiently. This is going to be bloody. Take no prisoners. If they try to take hostages eliminate them. Let's start picking out specific targets. We strike after sunset…."

….

When darkness fell there was apparently some kind of party going on at the Hikoki Estate because all the hired guards were drinking and celebrating rather than doing their jobs of actually _protecting_ the place. Anko was a bit puzzled so her team snuck in a lot closer than originally planned to figure out what was going on. Anko soon heard Ino's voice over the radio. "Mind body switch jutsu, success!" Just as planned, the thug whose mind Ino took over was walking around locking all the ways for the thugs to escape and unlocking key entrances for the ninjas to use. Ino was only able to maintain the jutsu for about ten minutes but it was enough to seriously damage the built in defenses of the estate.

Ino soon said tiredly over the radio, "It's Hikoki's fiftieth birthday so the booze locker is open. The slaves are locked up tight so the drunken guards won't get in and _soil the goods_. I _really_ want to kill these scumbags."

' _That's my girl_.' thought Anko. "When I give the signal we're going to lay waste to this place. If they're all drunk it means they will have an even slower reaction time than usual. Is everyone ready?"

After receiving a grim round of affirmatives Anko said over the radio, "On my mark; three, two, one, GO!"

The young ninjas quickly vaulted the walls with Haku and Emi taking the two raised platforms used as guard lookout posts. Soon a hail of black kunai and silver senbon needles rained down on the hapless thugs caught in the murderous crossfire. Anko was already racing up to the Estate's roof by the time the guards realized they were being cut down alive. She slipped in agilely through an open window and thought to herself, ' _Time to do some dirty work. Haku is trained well as I expected from someone of Zabuza's caliber. Between her and Emi-chan there isn't going to be much left for Ino-chan and Shikamaru to hit_.' Switching her attention to the targets below Anko licked the back of her kunai and went to work in a flash.

Within thirty minutes the screams both inside the building had gone quiet. Anko opened the front doors of the mansion splattered in blood with Hikoki's decapitated head in hand. She looked out and saw the sea of blood before her. Shikamaru was gathering the keys from the bodies of the higher ranked guards. Ino was sitting on the front steps waiting for Anko. Anko said calmly, "Report Ino-chan."

Ino saluted. "All targets are terminated Shikamaru and Haku are retrieving the keys to the slave pens. Emi-chan is still in the guard position keeping lookout. I was on watch for you but it seems you had no trouble."

"Well, one guy did jump out a front window and got away from me." said Anko.

Ino pointed with a kunai at a broken body lying on the ground with a kunai sticking out of his throat. "I believe that would be him sensei. He didn't make it far with all the noise he made."

"Who nailed him?" asked Anko.

"Ummm….Well, all four of us reacted to the noise and hit him at once." said Ino with a shrug.

Anko inspected the body and saw a kunai in the spine, one in throat, another in the heart and a senbon through an eye into the brain. "All four were kill shots….very nicely done." ' _I'm glad I blooded the kids early; even if they look a bit ill despite all the bodies. They did a good job. I bet Yūgao-chan did the same_.'

The Team soon set about freeing the slaves and did so in a quiet and orderly manner. It actually was a big plus that it was mostly a team of kunoichis that freed the slaves as they by and large had a fear of men. Anko kept things orderly and they set up camp outside the bloody estate to await the troops and medics sent as backup by the Daimyo. The living nightmare the slaves had to bear was finally over….

 **Tea Country, outside the Village of Numa no Mura**

Shigure's group of ninjas were tracking Team 11 when they came upon the (formerly) swampy plateau that rumor had it was haunted or cursed. Everything was dead and as dry as a desert now. They were staring at the still smoldering ruins of Numa no Mura with a great deal of trepidation. "What the hell happened here…?" asked one of Shigure's team. "Did our quarry do this or did they die in there? There's nothing here but ash and dust."

Shigure and the others realized the trail ended here. There was no sign of a camp or any evidence that their elusive targets had even been there. "This trail is a dead end." said Shigure. "The whole area is just lifeless. Even the trees and the grass surrounding the village remains are dead. Akio-sama will be disappointed but it's time to call off this hunt. We don't even know if they are dead or alive. Let's go back." As Shigure led his party back the way they had come he looked back over his shoulder at the smoldering remnants of Numa no Mura and shuddered. ' _I think those Konoha ninjas razed the place to the ground. I'm not going to be leading my group to a needless death_ ….' He turned to the others. "As far as Akio-sama and the others are concerned our targets are already deceased."

Everyone murmured in agreement and set out for their home in Hōrō-sha Village. For them the hunt for Team 11 was over….

 **Wind Country, desert**

The Kazekage and his party were setting up camp for the night and Gaara was outside sitting as he stared at the sliver of the moon that was showing. His teal eyes scanned the sky as if he was looking for an answer. ' _Mother is quiet tonight. As always only Temari and Kankuro will come near me. Will I die this way all alone? I live only for myself and care only about myself. I guess it doesn't matter. I will destroy all threats to my existence without fail._ '

Rasa looked outside his tent and saw Gaara lying their mumbling quietly to himself. _'Karura….our youngest son is a monster all because of me. I thought I would make the village stronger by putting Shukaku in him but in the end it cost you your life and Gaara his humanity_ ….' Looking briefly at Gaara and noticing how much his son resembled him Rasa thought sadly, ' _Gaara….forgive me my son….If there was some way to fix how broken you are I would gladly do so in a heartbeat_.'

Temari watched her Father as Rasa stared out at Gaara sitting alone. ' _I wonder what the Kazekage is thinking about. He's been acting strangely ever since that day he told me he wanted to talk to his_ _ **daughter**_ _. Is it possible that he's feeling some sort of regret? He looks so sad. It's a shame I can't ask him. It wouldn't do to have a genin question the Kazekage about his motivations. Bah! He_ _ **sacrificed**_ _Kaa-chan and Gaara as far as I'm concerned. He destroyed our family. Why would he start to suddenly give a damn about us now? I think I must have gotten too much heat to be thinking the Kazekage actually cares!_ ' The eldest of the three siblings went back inside her tent in a huff.

 **Tea Country, Western Forest**

Team 11 was in a hard march northwards under cover of the night. The absolutely hell bent look burning in their eyes betrayed the fiery determination they had in their hearts. After surviving the abyss of Numa no Mura; Yūgao was worried that her team would be hurt or damaged mentally but it seemed that going through the trial by fire had hardened the steel the young ninjas were made of. Yūgao knew it would have broken many and she was very proud of them. She also was going to make sure they took some _mandatory_ rest after this mission as well as talk to a Yamanaka to make sure they didn't have any issues. It was safe to say that this was easily an A-ranked mission now.

Natsuko was a lot quieter too. It was obvious that she was a seasoned ninja to the purple haired sword mistress by now. Otherwise Natsuko would have broken down. ' _Still, I have to wonder what her true purpose is. She seems to be sticking close to Naruto still but the kids are acting more professional. Maybe they've concluded that Natsuko's antics with Naruto-kun aren't worth getting angry about….of course the Priestess has toned it down a lot. She seems to be genuinely drawing some emotional support from Naruto-kun rather than trying to seduce him now. Whatever mission she is on….I guess we'll find out soon enough_.'

 **Location Unknown….**

In the darkness a pair of ryugan eyes opened. "Hmmm….games after death as night dances round. I can't believe it after all this time I'll be able to see her again Mitsuomi."

"What are you talking about Shin aniki?" asked Mitsuomi. "Are you having visions again?"

Natsume Shin turned to his apprentice of many years Takayanagi Mitsuomi. They left Konoha together years ago after Shin murdered his parents. Shin's ryugan eyes glowed demonically in the darkness but Mitsuomi had seen the ryugan many times so it didn't bother him in the least. Shin smiled. "It seems our target is traveling with my precious little sister Maya-chan….she has the Reiki as well. I've missed her _so_ much. I wonder what kind of a woman she has grown into now."

"What are the odds?" asked Mitsuomi. "I hope we don't have to fight her."

Shin laughed. "Of course we'll have to fight her. I want to see how strong Maya-chan has become." He shuddered for a moment. "That boy Naruto-kun she always played with is with her too."

"Uzumaki Naruto?" asked Mitsuomi. "That brings back memories. I was told not to play with him as a child by my parents. They wouldn't let me or Masataka near him. I never did know why aniki."

"It's because Naruto-kun was frightening to you parents." said Shin. "My Kaa-san always encouraged Maya-chan to play with him. She said his potential was limitless to me and people feared his power. It will be interesting to see how that squirt has turned out. Let's head towards the Tea Country/Fire Country border. We'll see them soon. I _just can't wait_ to see my Maya-chan again."

Ryūzaki Tsutomu licked his lips and said. "Are there any other hot women Shin? I haven't had any fun in a while."

The effeminate Kagurazaka Shinobu said, "Why are you even interested? This is Shin's sister we're talking about here."

"I know you wouldn't be interested Shinobu but I figure she's a healthy fifteen or so years. I'm sure she'll be good and tasty hehehe."

Shin's fist fit Tsutomu so fast that the perverse lecher hit the tree behind him with enough force to crack the bark. Shin's ryugan blazed angrily and he said, "Touch my baby sister Ryūzaki and I'll _end_ you."

Tsutomu shivered and nodded rapidly in fear. Natsume Shin never made idle threats, only promises….

POSTSCRIPT:

Uugh! Food poisoning can strike down the mightiest of men as poor, poor Zabuza has found out the hard way….all because your equally poor author had it while writing this chapter! Damn, at one point I was _hoping_ to go ahead and die. That stuff is _awful_. At any rate, I wanted to develop a bit on the other teams' progress since all of them probably won't be in one place again until the chunin exams. As expected of an assassination team, Anko's Team 10 has had to learn fast about killing at least bandit level foes. They have yet to face any high level threats. We also got to see Haku as well as the hapless Zabuza. Given her rowdy teammates Haku-chan has been forced into being the responsible big sister type on the team and actually has a closer Father/daughter relationship with Zabuza as a result.

….And we finally got to see Natsume Shin. I hope no one thought I'd forgotten about him. Next chapter Shin and Maya will meet after many years of separation….and things may get ugly. See you next time. Blue out. 4/13/16


	32. Chapter 32

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Okay, here we go! I've wanted to get to this chapter for a long while as it finally wraps up the Tea Country Arc (for the most part). We will finally see the meeting between Shin and Maya as well. For those of you not as familiar with Tenjho Tenge; check out the roster for the Executive Council on the Tenjho Tenge Wiki since all of Natsume Shin's followers are characters from that group. Here is Chapter 32. Enjoy!

Last time:

 _"_ _Uzumaki Naruto?" asked Mitsuomi. "That brings back memories. I was told not to play with him as a child by my parents. They wouldn't let me or Masataka near him. I never did know why aniki."_

 _"_ _It's because Naruto-kun was frightening to you parents." said Shin. "My Kaa-san always encouraged Maya-chan to play with him. She said his potential was limitless to me and people feared his power. It will be interesting to see how that squirt has turned out. Let's head towards the Tea Country/Fire Country border. We'll see them soon. I just can't wait to see my Maya-chan again."_

 _Ryūzaki Tsutomu licked his lips and said. "Are there any other hot women Shin? I haven't had any fun in a while."_

 _The effeminate Kagurazaka Shinobu said, "Why are you even interested? This is Shin's sister we're talking about here."_

 _"_ _I know you wouldn't be interested Shinobu but I figure she's a healthy fifteen or so years. I'm sure she'll be good and tasty hehehe."_

 _Shin's fist fit Tsutomu so fast that the perverse lecher hit the tree behind him with enough force to crack the bark. Shin's ryugan blazed angrily and he said, "Touch my baby sister Ryūzaki and I'll_ _end_ _you."_

 _Tsutomu shivered and nodded rapidly in fear. Natsume Shin never made idle threats, only promises…._

 **Chapter 32**

 **Tea Country**

Around noon Team 11 set out for Fire Country. They finished their lunch on a ridge facing northward and could see the rich forests of Fire Country a few miles from their current position. "I'll be so glad to be back in Fire Country sensei." said Naruto to Yūgao.

"I will be too Naruto-kun. I'd love to stop in a nice bath house on the way to the Fire Capitol." said Hinata agreeably.

Maya nodded. "It would be nice to relax a bit. This trip has been a non-stop battle."

Yūgao smiled at her students but said seriously, "We need to keep our guard up and finish our mission to the Fire Capitol. I know you're all tired of being in foreign territory but just because we will be in Fire Country again doesn't mean we'll be safe. There is always a possibility of being attacked whether it's by highway bandits, rogue samurai or missing nins. We always have to ' _look underneath the underneath'_ as my old senpai Hatake Kakashi always told me."

"Hatake Kakashi was your senpai Yūgao-sensei?" asked Hinata curiously.

Yūgao nodded. "Yes, he is a very admirable ninja who was a genin under our Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato."

Naruto snickered, "He's the one we captured in the Forest of Death. Quite a grandiose record." ' _I wonder if my Father is laughing at him from the other side_.'

"Pffft! The look on Hatake's face when we were hauling him along in that net was priceless!" laughed Maya. "I wonder what our Fourth Hokage would think of his student now."

Hinata stifled a giggle. "Who would have thought that he was actually telling the truth when he said he was there to protect us?"

Maya was still chuckling. "Well, his credibility was kind of shot when he was hanging upside down in a chakra net."

Yūgao sweat dropped and thought, ' _I'm so sorry Kakashi-senpai. But then again you got out of being a jonin instructor because of me getting this job….Actually, I like teaching these three kids; I'd have never guessed_ ….'

….

 **Meanwhile in Konoha….**

"….And so we of the Jonin Council have all agreed that you are the ideal person to teach the next generation of _ANBU Brats_ and continue Uzuki Yūgao's superb work at the Ninja Academy." said Nara Shikaku. "Congratulations Kakashi. Roll it in Choza."

Akimichi Choza pulled out a two wheeled dolly stacked four feet high with paperwork and said, "Here are Yūgao's lesson plans and class notes. Do us proud Hatake."

Tsunade and the Jonin Council were all smiles until Kakashi's single eye grew to the size of a dinner plate and he started shedding tears. The silver haired Jonin fell to his knees and screamed, " ** _Damn you Uzuki Yūgao! Damn you! I swear you'll pay for this mischief in this life or the next!_** "

….

 **Back with Team 11** ….

Yūgao sneezed. "Someone must be talking about me."

Natsuko piped up, "Well I'm all for stopping at a nice hot springs. Hopefully there is one with _mixed bathing_. What do you think Naruto-kun?"

Naruto sweat dropped. "I kind of doubt we'll find that sort of place on the road."

 **Fire Country**

Natsume Shin was all smiles as his group had lunch before they set forth towards the border where he foresaw his little sister and her group would appear. Shin and Takayanagi Mitsuomi were originally from Konoha of course as was Ryūzaki Tsutomu. Kagurazaka Shinobu was originally from Grass Country. They were soon joined by Sagura Koji* who was a big, muscular ninja from Iwa whose taijutsu was based on grappling and his fellow ex-Iwa nin Tagami Shiro that was known for his expertise with the staff and had a habit of wearing a bandana. Shin had gathered this motley but fairly potent group over the last few years. The ryugan wielder was undisputedly the most powerful of the group but none of them were weak.

Their little troupe had found that money was good in the mercenary business and often took jobs from shady types that couldn't openly do business with the five big ninja nations because they were considered criminals by those nations. Finishing their meal and covering any signs of their campsite Shin led the group of six out towards the border. "Come on boys, we've got earn our pay. I just can't wait to see my baby sister Maya-chan!"

 **Tea Country/Fire Country Border**

Team 11 quietly slipped across the border into Fire Country. "Normally we would go through the Tea Country Border Station but given we may have been followed there is a possibility of being ambushed on that path. It will be safer for us and more importantly our client just to slip through without anyone being aware of our presence." said Yūgao to her three students. "We'll check in at the nearest Fire Country outpost when we get the chance though."

About two hours later the team was in the forests of Fire Country and was crossing a clearing….one that would soon be a battlefield….

They heard a male's laughter. "There you all are! I've been waiting and waiting to see you baby sister!"

Seeing her elder brother walk out into the clearing with five others Maya gasped, "Shin!" ' _After all these years why now?_ '

Shin smiled. "Look at what a beautiful woman you've grown into Maya-chan!" He was almost giddy. "And you brought the Reiki back to your nii-san as well!"

Yūgao glared. "Natsume Shin; S-class missing nin of Konoha. Known for murdering your own family, four fellow Konoha ninjas and kidnapping Takayanagi Mitsuomi….What do you want here?"

"Shin aniki didn't kidnap me! I joined him on my own years ago." said Mitsuomi.

"Mitsuomi, is that really you?" asked a shocked Maya.

The older Takayanagi brother smiled, "Yep, it's me Maya-chan. I'm so happy to see you!"

Naruto glared at Mitsuomi. "You're the one that Maya-chan was so upset that Shin may have killed….You actually joined that traitor _willingly?!_ "

Mitsuomi growled, "Don't judge me Uzumaki! You are a bad seed yourself!"

"Now, now Mitsuomi." said Shin. "We're here for the Nadeshiko kunoichi you've been running around with Uzuki. Natsuko or something isn't it…?"

Natsuko's violet eyes burned angrily and she said to Shin, "Why would a missing nin be after a kunoichi of my village? I can't imagine Shizuka-sama having any business with the likes of you."

Shin said, "Actually you are the specific target; not your village. A particular crime boss had both his heart and savings stolen by you before you blew out of town. He's kind of holding a grudge….Sound familiar?"

The now revealed Nadeshiko kunoichi looked thoughtful for a moment before she shook her head and frowned. "I can easily think of a _dozen_ men that fit that description! Be specific. I don't know which one you are talking about."

Everyone present sweat dropped (except Natsuko). The members of Team 11 were all staring at their client dumbfounded in disbelief.

Shin coughed uncomfortably. "Well, be that as it may our employer wants you to pay for breaking his heart and his bank account last year."

"Let's just capture this whore already!" said Shinobu.

"I don't know who you are femme-boy but I happen to _like_ men!" snapped Natsuko. "Judging by your appearance I'll bet you do too and you're just _jealous._ "

Shinobu blushed scarlet and said, "I am _not_ jealous!"

Tsutomu broke into raucous laughter. "Boy she pegged you right Kagurazaka! _Femme-boy!_ I love it!"

"Shut up Ryūzaki!" screeched Shinobu. "At least I'm not a damn rapist like you."

Sagura sighed. "Can we please just get down to business?" asked the hulking man.

Shin appeared in front of Yūgao with his katana drawn. Yūgao barely had time to mount a defense with her own blade. When they clashed Shin yelled, "Sagura, capture our target! The rest of you pick your own targets to fight! I'll deal with the jonin." His ryugan blazed to life and he said, "Let's dance Uzuki. I want to see if you can actually use that sword of yours!" As the sparks flew between Shin and Yūgao everyone else exploded into action.

 _With Maya_ ….

The Natsume heiress quickly drew the Reiki and went to support her sensei but Mitsuomi intercepted her. "Sorry Maya-chan but I can't let you interfere with aniki. I'm telling you as a friend to just sit this one out."

The silver haired girl growled, "Even if we were childhood friends I'll carve you to pieces for siding with that murderer Mitsuomi." In a flash of silver the Reiki crashed against Mitsuomi's kunai he was using to defend and sent the white haired** boy reeling. He was barely able to avoid losing a limb to Maya's speed with her nodachi. Maya raised the Reiki into an attack position and it hummed in synch with her as she channeled chakra through it. Her blue eyes flashed with anger. "I'm going to end you _and_ Shin today Mitsuomi."

Mitsuomi's eyes widened as he rolled to his feet. The elder Takayanagi brother summed his thoughts up succinctly by saying, " _Oh, shit_."

 _With Hinata_ ….

The byakugan princess leapt forward but had to jump to the side to avoid a fireball jutsu launched by Ryūzaki Tsutomu. The glasses wearing lecher smiled and said, "Let's get acquainted sweetie; I'd hate to hurt that fine; fine ass of yours _too_ much."

Seeing him licking his lips; Hinata growled at Tsutomu. "It isn't mutual sicko. You're going to regret crossing me."

Tsutomu laughed. "I guess you like it _rough_. Let's get it on then!"

 _With Naruto_ ….

Naruto found himself matched against Shinobu who attacked with a brutal series of leg sweeps and hard kicks that caused Naruto to tumble. ' _That didn't even break a rib. I feel like I'm kicking a rock! What kind training has he had?_ ' thought Shinobu. ' _I just have to pour on the damage!_ ' Shinobu kept juggling Naruto with kicks but couldn't tell that he was doing any injury to the blonde ninja. Naruto was bleeding but nothing was broken. ' _Damn it. I've got to keep this_ -'

Shinobu's thoughts were interrupted when Naruto caught the effeminate man's left ankle in an iron grip. Naruto gave Shinobu a very bloodthirsty smile and used his Whirlpool style taijutsu that he was still learning from Bunshichi to brutal effect. Naruto twisted the girly looking ninja's ankle so fast that the bones shattering in Shinobu's foot and ankle could be heard across the battlefield as Shinobu screamed in pain. Naruto added to the wicked amount of torque he already had on Shinobu's broken foot which sent the dark haired missing nin spinning. Naruto was going to give chase but a staff crashed down in front of him as the blonde rolled to his feet.

The bandana wearing staff wielder said, "Shinobu underestimated you. I won't." He spun his staff into a ready stance and narrowed his dark eyes. "I'm Tagami Shiro and I'll be your opponent."

 _With Natsuko_ ….

Sagura Koji raced after Natsuko but the Nadeshiko kunoichi was much faster and more maneuverable than he'd predicted. He managed to knock her naginata away but wasn't able to land a hit on her personally. Then Natsuko landed a vicious kick to his solar plexus but she bounced back harmlessly. "Your attacks won't damage me that way." said Sagura. "I'm sorry but I have a job to do even if you are a woman." He attempted a two handed overhead smash that Natsuko barely avoided but it cratered the earth when his fists impacted the ground.

Natsuko's eyes widened but she leapt back and assumed her Nadeshiko style of taijutsu, the Hardliner Gale Fist. She narrowed her eyes as the wind chakra became visible around her hands. "I will teach you to look down on a Nadeshiko kunoichi. _This_ will hurt you lummox. Violent whirlwind!" Her jutsu spewed out a jet of wind. Sagura was sent tumbling by the high pressure wind impact against his body. Charging her fists with wind chakra Natsuko tore after the big man.

 _With Yūgao_ ….

Shin found himself getting frustrated. He had gone to the Academy with Yūgao years ago and the purple haired girl had just vanished one day. He always assumed she quit even though she was at the top of the class. He leapt back to get some space in what was quickly evolving into a close range knife fight with katanas. Her Dance of the crescent moon jutsu nearly killed him. "What's with you Uzuki?! I thought you dropped out."

"I was recruited straight into ANBU at that age." growled Yūgao. She was getting tired and knew she wouldn't last in a battle of attrition against Shin. The purple haired sword mistress was trying to end it quickly but Shin was trying to stretch that battle out. Suddenly Shin shot forward with a simple cross slash that Yūgao had to parry vertically.

Shin yelled, "Sword breaker!" and Yūgao's katana shattered. She was barely able to fall backwards to avoid being cut in half. Shin grinned at her shocked look and said, "How do you like this sword's special ability? It wouldn't be able to hurt the Reiki but it will work against even a quality katana like you had there. I'd better finish this. I have a target to catch. It was nice seeing you again. Nothing personal Uzuki."

Yūgao thought of her lover Hayate and her students as Shin's strike went towards her in a deadly arc….only for her to be saved by the flying form of Takayanagi Mitsuomi who was avoiding the Reiki wielding Maya. He landed face first in between Yūgao's breasts and gripped them trying to steady himself. Looking up Mitsuomi saw the angry, blushing face of Yūgao who said " ** _I'll kill you; you little pervert!_** "

Shin had to angle his sword strike away to avoid cutting Mitsuomi. "Oh damn, now she's pissed." groaned Shin. He quickly spun his blade up to parry the Reiki as Maya came at him full force and sent sparks flying. Shin smiled. "I was going to give you some attention Maya-chan but you are so impatient!" Maya bared her teeth angrily and pushed him back. Shin was laughing. "Whoa baby sister! Looks like we're trading dance partners Mitsuomi. I don't think Uzuki is as skilled with taijutsu as kenjutsu. I'm going to go play with Maya-chan for a while."

 _With Naruto_ ….

Tagami Shiro had his staff split into its chain components and found he really had his hands full with Naruto. Once the blonde brought out his two swords into play; Naruto's already crushing killing intent increased massively and the staff wielder found himself on the defensive. It was apparent that Shiro's staff wasn't going to break _those_ blades and disarming Naruto had proven to be impossible. Shiro's eyes widened as the Kurimuzo grazed him. It was a small cut but the blood was flowing from his injury to the demonic wakizashi. The bandana wearing man could sense the hunger for his blood oozing from the red glowing blade. In a moment of panic Shiro spun his staff to defend and it snapped the stream of blood flowing out to the Kurimuzo. Feeling the strange connection was broken between him and the Kurimuzo; Shiro allowed himself to sigh in relief before Naruto charged him again with both blades flashing.

' _This is getting ugly really quickly!_ ' thought the bandana wearing man as he parried another blow.

 _With Hinata_ ….

Ryūzaki was having a good time. His fire jutsus kept the beautiful Hyūga girl at a distance so her juken style was almost useless against him. As soon as she was too exhausted to fight he planned to violate every luscious inch of her gorgeous body. He wanted Maya and the target too but Maya was off limits because of Shin. ' _I'll have fun with this hot chick first_.' he thought licking his lips. "Don't you worry honey; we're almost there!" he yelled as Hinata fell to her knees exhausted. Her byakugan deactivated from lack of chakra as her face took a look of complete despair. Ryūzaki got close and grabbed Hinata's forehead so she was looking at him. "You look good on your knees baby. Just how I like my women." the lecher said. Then her expression changed to one of sadistic glee and he thought, ' _A feint?_ '

Hinata suddenly reactivated her byakugan and smashed Ryūzaki right in the face with an Eight trigrams: air palm that blew his glasses to smithereens and knocked out several of his teeth. He was sent tumbling back end over end feeling his face was shattered. He was completely disoriented. When Tsutomu's vision came into focus he saw the cold byakugan glare of Hinata as she said, "You are within the field of my divination. Eight trigrams: sixty-four palms!"

Ryūzaki's body was shattered as his entire world exploded into white hot agony. He weakly tried to defend against the brutal point blank attack but it was useless. Tsutomu few back unconscious with his eyes rolled back in his head from the pain.

 _With Natsuko_ ….

Sagura was taking an unexpectedly vicious beating from Natsuko. He tried to get in close to grapple with her where his massive strength would prevail but her wind enhanced Gale fist was hurting his chakra enhanced skin to the point he was badly torn up. He hadn't lost but his advantages were wearing down and he was covered in bloody gashes. That's when he saw Shinobu on the ground trying to set his own shattered ankle. Sagura then saw that Ryūzaki was down as well and Shiro was just barely holding his own against a berserker Naruto. ' _This is going downhill fast_.' thought the big man. ' _Where is Shin and why is the jonin fighting Mitsuomi?_ '

 _With Yūgao_ ….

Mitsuomi was in his own personal hell. First Maya-chan tried to slice him into cutlets and now this purple haired jonin was picking him apart. It seemed he had a slight advantage in pure taijutsu as Shin had implied but she was using jutsus, kunai and shuriken to level the playing field. Mitsuomi was rapidly falling back. "I'm sorry! It _really_ was an accident when I grabbed your breasts!"

That got him a roundhouse kick to the face….

' _Fighting angry kunoichis is awful! I should have taken the easy way out and gone after Uzumaki!_ ' thought Mitsuomi as he dodged a brace of shuriken that grazed him.

 _With Maya_ ….

The frustrated and angry Maya was facing off with her brother who seemed to be toying with her until she actually drew blood with the Reiki. She smiled ferally and said, "First blood goes to me nii-san."

Shin's face turned angry and he said, "I'm not playing anymore Maya-chan. Hand over the Reiki before I get serious."

Her blue eyes narrowed. " _I'm_ the Reiki's guardian. You will not have it." The next thing Maya knew Shin was raining punches and kicks down upon her and had completely shattered her defenses. He was yelling nonsensical things about how much he loved her and to give him the Reiki over and over. The beating was intense and Maya was lost in a world of pain as Shin continued to knock her back. Her blurry vision saw his ryugan eyes blazing but she held tightly onto the Reiki with both hands. Finally Maya was slammed backwards into a tree. She slid downwards into a sitting position and glared up at Shin defiantly while still gripping the Reiki possessively. She spit some blood out as he reached for the family's sacred blade. "I won't give the Reiki to you Shin. _It is not yours!_ "

Maya looked up and saw Shin's face. He was crying. "Maya-chan, can't you see how much you are hurting your nii-san? I love you baby sister. Give me the Reiki! Don't make me hurt you anymore!" She was breathing heavily as he pointed his sword at her. "This is just how it was all those years ago! Stop being so stubborn! Give your nii-san the Reiki Maya-chan. He stabbed his sword breaker blade into the bark of the tree she was leaning against a fraction of an inch from her beautiful face. "Stop hurting me Maya-chan!" he roared.

Maya grit her teeth and screamed, " ** _Run away Shin!_** _Run away now!_ I'll _never_ give you the Reiki!"

Shin suddenly felt his sword arm riddled with small spikes of wood and cried out as he dropped his sword. He cradled his injured arm and locked his eyes with Maya's tear filled blue ones for what seemed like an eternity before his ryugan deactivated. "You….you have the power over wood our great-grandmother had….that's why you don't have the ryugan yourself. I….I'm leaving now." he said in a hollow tone. "This is too much pain for me to bear." Shin quickly went back to the battlefield and called for a retreat leaving a puzzled Maya behind.

Mitsuomi was only too happy to grab Ryūzaki's broken carcass and run from the angry Yūgao. He was still spewing apologies to the purple haired jonin as he withdrew.

Sagura grabbed the downed Shinobu whose ankle was still too damaged for him to run "I guess you've won this battle." he said to Natsuko before he vanished with Shinobu in a body flicker.

Tagami Shiro was tired and glad to withdraw. He had taken a beating and was slowly losing the battle with Naruto through sheer staying power. He really didn't know what to think of the blonde ninja. The Kurimuzo struck fear into him though. When he heard Shin yell at them to pull out Shiro said to Naruto, "Until we meet again Uzumaki." before he too vanished in a body flicker.

Team 11 all but fell over in exhaustion once their opponents were out of Hinata's byakugan range. Maya was beat up badly and hobbled over to where the others were with help from Naruto. She wasn't sure what Shin meant about 'power over wood.' As Naruto helped her along she thought, ' _I'll have to look in the family records. There must be something on my great-grandmother's abilities there_.'

Yūgao and Naruto were in the best shape overall and were still standing. Hinata and Natsuko were both too tired to go on without some rest and Maya was a total wreck. Once they moved over into the shade of the trees Yūgao said, "We'll set up camp here. Naruto-kun, make some shadow clones and let them set up a defensive perimeter. We all need to rest." Twenty minutes later the fatigued group was checking each other over for injuries and bandaging one another up. Hinata didn't have a lot of chakra left for healing the others and what little she did have was used on Maya as the Natsume heiress was in the worst shape….

….

 **Three hours later** ….

Naruto's clones finished gathering the kunai and shuriken on the battlefield and everyone was re-equipped. He handed the Sword breaker katana over to Yūgao because her own blade was demolished. Natsuko's naginata was damaged beyond repair so she unsealed her Nadeshiko kunoichi uniform*** from a scroll and changed into it and her normal kunoichi arsenal. As it turned out her weapons of choice were kunai knives despite her skill with the naginata.

Hinata patched the group up as best she could with what supplies they had. Before long they were as good as they were going to be and set out. Yūgao said, "Naruto, you carry Maya piggyback style. Hinata, you are on point. Use your byakugan sparingly because you and all of us have low chakra except Naruto. We're heading directly towards the Fire Country Ninja Outpost Number 6 to seek medical attention." Yūgao turned to Natsuko. "I don't know what your situation or mission actually is but considering you aren't under the pretence of being a Miko anymore I'm assuming that you don't mind tree hopping instead of travelling as a civilian, yes?"

Natsuko nodded. "That's fine. As a foreign kunoichi in Fire Country I'm under your stewardship anyway. My mission is a write off since I've been found out."

Yūgao nodded. "So be it then. Let's move out."

The group travelled in silence through the treetops with Hinata activating her byakugan from time to time. Team 11 was moving at about half their normal ninja speed but considering their injuries and Naruto carrying Maya it was the best they could do….

….

 **Konoha Ninja Outpost Number 6**

It was close to dusk when Team 11 arrived and Yūgao was pleased to see her former ANBU team Captain Tenzō of the Mokuton**** was in charge there. She saluted and said, "Uzuki Yūgao and Team 11 reporting in Captain Tenzō. We are in need of medical assistance. Our client Natsuko of the Nadeshiko Village is in need of a doctor as well."

Despite the fact his mask hid his face it was obvious from his body language that Tenzō was a bit shocked at Yūgao and her team's battered appearances. He said, "Come inside Yūgao. You look like you've fought a war. Our Medical nin Kumadori is very good. He'll take care of your group."

Kumadori was a relatively young medic with short brown hair that wore a white medic's uniform. He was soon working on Maya because she was in the worst shape.

Tenzō was soon discussing the situation with Yūgao and they brought Natsuko in a while later. He turned to Natsuko and said, "Please explain the nature of your mission here in Fire Country. If you don't cooperate I'm having you dumped back at the Tea Country Border without any medical attention."

Natsuko cringed. Given how fatigued and beat up she was there was little choice but to cooperate. She sighed. "I am Natsuko of the Nadeshiko Village. I was sent to eliminate the High Priest Wataru for attempting to molest my cousin and the Leader of the Nadeshiko Village Shizuka-sama. It was a great affront to all the kunoichis in our Village and my orders are to _kill him dead_."

Yūgao groaned. "That old fool tried to cop a feel of your head kunoichi? I wonder how he got out alive."

"It was a close thing but he managed to escape us." said Natsuko. "That was two years ago. I was hiding under the guise of a Miko ever since so I could infiltrate the Shrine at the Fire Capitol."

"Well, you won't be killing him now even if you did make it to the Fire Shrine at the Capitol." said Tenzō.

Natsuko looked affronted. "Are you questioning my abilities as a kunoichi?" she asked hotly.

Tenzo waved his hand to placate the fuming Nadeshiko kunoichi. "It's nothing about your abilities Natsuko-san. Wataru was removed from power and has been sentenced to death by hanging for multiple accounts of abusing his power to gain sexual favors from various members of the order as well as others. He'll be dead by the time you get to the Fire Capitol. The entire Priestesshood was so enraged when they found out about his stunt at the Festival of Flame that he was almost murdered before he even made it to trial. It's been all over the news. Where have you been?"

Natsuko's jaw hit the floor in shock. "Y-you're telling me the old geezer is already dead?"

Tenzō nodded. "Close enough. He will be first thing in the morning." Tenzō handed Natsuko a Fire Country newspaper and said, "Shrines all around Fire Country were utterly scandalized. It's front page news."

Yūgao read the headlines from over Natsuko's shoulder. ' **WANDERING HANDS WATARU TO BE HUNG AT DAWN!** ' The Nadeshiko kunoichi hung her head in disbelief.

Yūgao slapped Natsuko on the back and started to laugh crazily. "I took my team _to hell and back_ so you could kill a man who is _already sentenced to die?!_ Bwahahaha! Tell me there is some booze here Tenzō! Bwahahaha! If I don't get a drink fast I won't be held responsible for _slowly choking_ Natsuko to death with my bare hands! Bwahahaha!" Yūgao had a bottle of sake in her hands faster than you could say ' _bartender'_ thanks to Tenzō's lightning fast reflexes….

Within the hour Naruto and Hinata (Maya was sleeping) were informed by their sensei that the series of unfortunate events (also known as a _simple escort mission_ ) was all for naught. On the positive side, the old fool of a High Priest Wataru that made passes at both Maya and Hinata months back was finally going to be put down for good. It was small comfort given they'd been ambushed, trapped in a town that was literally a vision of hell and then had to face off with Maya's insane brother Shin and his merry band of missing ninjas. On the other hand they had a tale worthy of telling their children and grandchildren in the future….

It had been a long trip and Team 11 was glad to see it was over.

POSTSCRIPT:

*No, Sagura Koji isn't wearing a lucha libre mask in this one. He may use some wrestling techniques but he is a ninja. My apologies to all you luchadores reading!

**Mitsuomi's hair is white in the manga but it's some sort of light blue in the anime. I went with the manga's coloration.

***Natsuko's uniform basically looks like Shizuka's with the single shoulder pad. The only difference is her uniform is dark blue instead of gray/black. Her fighting style is very similar to Shizuka's as well excepting the naginata.

****Later known as Yamato and under other aliases. I don't believe he was actually given a true name by Kishimoto; just various code names.

Well, having survived the horrors of food poisoning I'm (almost) back to being semi-healthy. Just as a little side note I realized that my depiction of Natsuko's appearance bore a strong resemblance to Shizuka so I decided to make them first cousins; hence their similar fighting styles and appearances. (Obviously their personalities are nothing alike). The Tea Country Arc was seven chapters long though I originally was planning for it to be half that. I'd like to jump ahead to the chunin exams but there is still a lot going on and a lot of story to lead up to that. Next chapter we'll see the Kazekage and the Sand Siblings arrive in Konoha. What will come of that situation? We'll also learn about Maya's mysterious new ability and wrap up the return of Team 11 to Konoha. See you next time. Blue out. 4/16/16


	33. Chapter 33

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

This chapter took a bit longer than planned. I originally intended to advance the plot a bit more but ended up with something more character driven than anything. Next chapter we'll _finally_ make it back to Konoha. Here is chapter 33. Enjoy!

Last time:

 _Yūgao read the headlines from over Natsuko's shoulder. '_ _ **WANDERING HANDS WATARU TO BE HUNG AT DAWN!**_ _' The Nadeshiko kunoichi hung her head in disbelief._

 _Yūgao slapped Natsuko on the back and started to laugh crazily. "I took my team_ _to hell and back_ _so you could kill a man who is_ _already sentenced to die?!_ _Bwahahaha! Tell me there is some booze here Tenzō! Bwahahaha! If I don't get a drink fast I won't be held responsible for_ _slowly choking_ _Natsuko to death with my bare hands! Bwahahaha!" Yūgao had a bottle of sake in her hands faster than you could say 'bartender' thanks to Tenzō's lightning fast reflexes…._

 _Within the hour Naruto and Hinata (Maya was sleeping) were informed by their sensei that the series of unfortunate events (also known as a_ _simple escort mission_ _) was all for naught. On the positive side, the old fool of a High Priest Wataru that made passes at both Maya and Hinata months back was finally going to be put down for good. It was small comfort given they'd been ambushed, trapped in a town that was literally a vision of hell and then had to face off with Maya's insane brother Shin and his merry band of missing ninjas. On the other hand they had a tale worthy of telling their children and grandchildren in the future…._

 _It had been a long trip and Team 11 was glad to see it was over._

 **Chapter 33**

 **Fire Country, Konoha, Hokage's Office**

It was early morning and Tsunade was looking over her first batch of mission reports when she saw she had a priority report come in from Captain Tenzō down at the southern Outpost Station 6. It was a preliminary report concerning Team 11; Uzuki Yūgao's Team. Tsunade's honey colored eyes kept getting larger and larger as she read the abbreviated version of the mission:

 _-Team 11 accepted C ranked escort mission to Tea Country from Third Hokage. Mission: Escort Miko from Hekison Village in Tea Country to the Fire Temple at the Fire Country Capitol._

 _-Attacked by eight missing nins en route to Hekison Village, seven enemy nins killed, one escaped. Estimated at least B rank threat. Genin Uzumaki Naruto injured severely but recovered due to his healing factor. All other team members suffered minor injuries. -Further details to be provided verbally to the Hokage._

 _-Picked up 'Miko' Manami Natsuko -Later revealed to be a disguised Nadeshiko chunin kunoichi Natsuko._

 _-Razed the Village on Numa no Mura in Tea Country to the ground due to 'demon infestation.' Estimated A+ rank threat. All team members suffered minor injuries and exhaustion and_ _ **severe**_ _mental fatigue. -Details for Hokage's ears only._

 _-Attacked by six missing nins led by S ranked Natsume Shin formerly of Konoha. Estimated S rank threat. Enemy nins withdrew after short but violent battle. Two enemy nins badly injured, one severely. Genin Natsume Maya badly injured. All other team members suffered minor injuries and exhaustion. –Further details for Hokage's ears only._

 _-Reported to Outpost Station 6 for medical treatment (Kumadori's medical reports enclosed). Nadeshiko kunoichi Natsuko revealed that her mission was to eliminate former High Priest Wataru (already sentenced to death at Fire Capitol). Declared her mission officially scrubbed._

 _-Team currently recovering and awaiting further instructions from the Hokage. Doctor Kumadori estimates they should rest a day before travelling. Nadeshiko kunoichi Natsuko was the true target of the missing nin attacks. Jonin Uzuki Yūgao estimates the safest route would be for Team 11 and their client to come straight to Konoha. Standing by for further instructions._

 _-Tenzō_

"By the gods!" thought Tsunade aloud. "Their first C rank escalated to B and all the way through A to S rank?" Setting the report down on the table Tsunade pondered just what these _ANBU Brats_ were made of. ' _We all knew Yūgao did an outstanding job with those kids but the fact that they all survived and are intact from these medical reports is astounding. Kumadori's medical report recommends they each see a Yamanaka after the mission but physically they are just worn out and should recover nicely._ '

After pondering a few more minutes Tsunade decided to send a team down to escort the beleaguered Team 11 back to Konoha. ' _After the hell they've been through they deserve a bit of extra protection_.' Sending out a set of orders to team 11 via messenger bird; Tsunade started looking over her options on what team she could send down to escort the group back to Konoha.

 **Ninja Outpost Station Number 6**

Maya awoke in the morning feeling sore but actually rested. Remembering they were at the Outpost 6 she looked around and saw Naruto and Hinata in the bunks on either side of her. Naruto was sleeping peacefully in the bunk to her left. Hinata cracked an eye open and whispered from her right, "Are you awake Maya-chan? It's safe to sleep in if you want to. Naruto-kun is still out like a light."

The Natsume heiress smiled tiredly. "I'm okay Hinata-chan. I don't remember much after we arrived here. What happened?"

"Doctor Kumadori used a jutsu to help you sleep while he fixed you up." explained Hinata. "I'm glad you are feeling better. You really took a beating. I wish I could have helped more."

"You had your own problems to deal with; don't worry about it." said Maya. "I'm just relieved that we're all safe and actually rested. I haven't had a decent night's sleep since we were in Hekison Village in Tea Country. Speaking of which, where is our decidedly non-miko client now?"

Hinata giggled, "Have I got a story to tell you…."

….

"….So she was on a mission to kill that old pervert Wataru and he's already sentenced to die?" asked Maya with a huge sweat drop.

"That pretty much sums it up Maya-chan." said Hinata. "We've nearly died on multiple occasions for nothing. At least Wataru will be history at eight o'clock."

"What time is it now?" asked the silver haired girl with a yawn.

Hinata yawned as well. "It's six-thirty. Let's sleep a little longer Maya-chan. Since Yūgao-sensei told us we could sleep in as late as we want I think we should take advantage of it."

Both of the girls were soon sleeping soundly again knowing they were safe.

 _…_ _.Naruto's Dreamscape…._

 _Naruto was eagerly working on a new seal in his fuinjutsu office in the Natsume Clan home. He was deep in thought when he heard Maya call him from the doorway. "Na-ru-to-kun….you've been playing with those seals all day. I need some affection."_

 _The blonde put down his seal brush and said "I'm almost done here Maya-chan." He looked over at her and all the words died in his throat. The little black leather outfit she was wearing she was wearing made him hard beyond belief. The criminally short shorts and incredibly tight, black mini ANBU vest made his mouth run dry. The fact it was only held closed by one teeny tiny button was the coup de grace. "_ _ **Oh. My. Goddess!**_ _" squeaked Naruto before he fainted from a nose bleed as Maya laughed._

 _The blonde ninja awoke and saw Hinata atop of him. "Are you okay Naruto-kun?" she asked with concern in her voice._

 _'_ _Wow what a dream_ _.' thought the blonde. "I'm okay Hinata-chan I just…."_

 _Hinata leaned back showing she was wearing midriff exposing silver silken top that barely covered her breasts and bikini cut panties….and they were all_ _see through_ _. "Now that you've had a nice appetizer; how about the main course?" she purred seductively._

 _The blood rushed to Naruto's arousal at record breaking speeds and the poor blonde passed out hearing Hinata giggling._

 _'_ _Oh geez….I'm so hard it's painful…._ _' thought Naruto as he finally awoke. "Hinata-chan and Maya-chan are going to be the death of me."_

 _"_ _Naruto-kun, we need to take care of that." said Hikari as she walked into the room in a yukata._

 _"_ _Hikari-chan?" asked Naruto a bit absentmindedly._

 _Hikari smiled and said, "We can't let you go around unsatisfied. Let me just take this off." Shedding her yukata she smiled hungrily as she revealed a lacy green teddy that was v cut down to her navel. Naruto's eyes were big as saucers as she ran a finger down his throbbing manhood and licked her lips. "Time for a tasty treat."_

 _Naruto's eyes rolled back in his head. It was just too much for his hormonal young brain to handle…._

 _When Naruto woke up he saw Yūgao standing there with a look of disappointment etched across her face. "Good grief Naruto-kun! If you keep passing out you're never going to please all your future wives. Emi's waiting for you too you know."_

 _"_ _I'm_ _ **sorry**_ _Yūgao-sensei! They were all_ _ **way too hot**_ _for me to handle in those tiny little outfits." exclaimed Naruto._

 _That's when a whip cracked in front of him and he noticed his sensei was wearing a purple, skin tight cat suit with cat ears and a tail as she brandished a whip. "It looks like Neko nee-chan is going to have to put you through some_ _ **harsh training**_ _Naruto-kun. Don't you worry; I'll whip you into shape and train you just like I did my_ _ **pet**_ _Hayate-kun."_

 _"_ _ **EEEEEEPPPPP!**_ _Whatever you and Hayate-san do in the bedroom; leave me out of it sensei!" shrieked Naruto in terror as he got up and ran away in fear._

 _…_ _.Dream end…._

Naruto woke up with a start. His blue eyes were looking around wildly and his heart was racing. He was panting and sweating heavily. The bit with Yūgao and the whip was _way_ too much to handle. "Gods above there are some things I don't _want_ to know." he whispered to himself. Looking over he saw Maya and Hinata sleeping peacefully in their bunks. The color had returned to Maya's face and she looked peaceful. The blonde ninja sighed knowing everyone was safe. ' _Now all I have to do is get this painful erection to settle down_ ….' he thought miserably.

 **Fire Country/River Country Border; Kazekage's Camp**

After crossing through River Country from Wind Country, the Kazekage and his entourage realized they were making much better time than expected. They had camped out the night before and were now finishing breakfast. The group would be ready to proceed soon. Normally the all business like Rasa would simply have forged ahead but instead he searched the map and decided they should stop at Onsen no machi which was a small resort village in the southwest tip of Fire Country. His children had never even seen a hot springs resort in the desert (let alone relaxed in one) and he thought it would be a novel experience for them. Turning to Baki he said, "Inform everyone we are going to detour to the resort town of Onsen no machi since we are so far ahead of schedule. I haven't visited a hot spring in years and several in our party never have. There is no harm in relaxing a bit, eh Baki?"

Baki was a bit shocked at his leader's cavalier decision but decided to keep it to himself. "As you wish Kazekage-sama." Going around their camp and informing everyone Baki came to his genin team. "Temari, Kankuro, Gaara; we are stopping at a hot springs resort village called Onsen no machi to relax for a while since we are too far ahead of schedule. I trust all of you will continue your model behavior. Kazekage-sama felt it would be a good opportunity to relax since we have the time to burn."

The three sand siblings all had looks of confusion in their eyes and Temari said, "Wouldn't it be better to get some training in? This is….unusual."

"I believe Kazekage-sama wishes for you three to enjoy a good soak in a hot springs. It is quite luxurious so let's take advantage of it." said Baki. "There will be plenty of time to train later so try to enjoy it." With that Baki left the three Sand Siblings to their own devices.

Hearing several other members of the entourage being excited for this opportunity; the Sand Siblings decided to discuss it a bit among themselves. Kankuro said, "Ummm….I don't know what's so great about a hot springs resort but don't you think that Kazekage-sama is acting a little strange on this trip? He's actually gone out of his way to talk to us."

Gaara replied, "Mother is so shocked that she's not even talking right now. This is very odd. What is the point in a hot springs resort anyway? It seems like a terrible waste of water."

"Water is plentiful here in Fire Country." said Temari. "These hot springs are supposed to be relaxing and good for your skin from what I've heard."

About that time Rasa came over. "That's correct my daughter. You three should enjoy this little detour. There is also a hot springs in Konoha that you can enjoy if you wish." He turned to Gaara and asked, "How are you doing my son? Your behavior on this trip has been exemplary. Well done. You too Kankuro."

' ** _What the fuck?_** _Who is this person and where is Kazekage-sama?!_ ' thought the three siblings.

"Well, make sure to enjoy this." said Rasa as he went to talk to others.

Kankuro said, "Must be smoking some of that imported wacky weed."

With a face palm Gaara replied, "I agree entirely. There is no other explanation."

 **Konoha, Hokage's Office**

"ANBU Gazeru, Bear and Dove reporting Hokage-sama." said Hikari with a crisp salute. ' _Finally I'm back on active duty!_ ' thought Gazeru with a smile behind her mask. ' _After all that physical therapy I'm back in fighting trim_.'

Tsunade said, "At ease ANBU. As you all know the Kazekage and his entourage are supposed to arrive tomorrow. I've made arrangements for you three to be pulled from your guard duty the first day as I have had an unexpected assignment come up." Seeing she had their undivided attention the Fifth Hokage continued. "Genin Team 11 headed by Uzuki Yūgao ran into some trouble on their first C ranked mission and are currently at Outpost 6 with ANBU Captain Tenzo. They had a run in with two separate groups of missing nins one of which was led by the S ranked missing ninja Natsume Shin. He and his group were after Team 11's client that they escorted from Tea Country."

Hikari stifled a gasp and was terrified inside for Naruto and her friends. Dove asked, "Are they in need of medical attention Hokage-sama? That is my field of specialty."

The straw blonde Hokage shook her head. "No, our medic Kumadori has things well in hand from the reports though it wouldn't hurt for you to check them over as well for battle fatigue. They are just resting today and will be ready to return to Konoha tomorrow morning. To be honest I believe the danger has passed for Team 11 and their client. I simply want an ANBU escort for them on the way back _just in case_. Even the abbreviated report of their mission sounds like a huge trial by fire for the whole team. I believe even ANBU level ninjas such as yourselves would have been hard pressed in the hell that Team 11 went through. Your mission is simple. Head down to Outpost Number 6 and escort Team 11 and their chunin level client back here in the morning. Any questions?" Seeing her ANBU had none Tsunade dismissed them.

When they got outside Dove turned to her teammates. "I say we pack up and leave as soon as possible. That way we can get down to the outpost before dark. Kumadori is a very good medic nin but I want to talk to him in detail once we arrive in case there are mental issues that need to be taken into account. We can bunk there for the night and escort them back in the morning. Will that work for you guys?"

"It works for me." said Bear. "Let's meet at the South Gate in an hour."

Gazeru nodded. "I'm packing a week's worth just in case. See you both in an hour."

The three ANBU nodded and each vanished in a body flicker to their own homes to get ready.

 **The town of Onsen no machi**

Temari was more or less kidnapped by the four other kunoichi's in the Suna party to go soak on the women's side of the hot springs. Airi was a jonin and Chikako, Haruna, Michiko were all chunins. They were all quite excited to be able to relax. "Temari-sama, I had no idea Kazakage-sama was so generous." said Michiko happily. "This is heavenly."

' _He isn't_ ….' thought Temari dourly. "I was just as surprised about this stop as much as all of you."

"Kazekage-sama is so cool and handsome." gushed Haruna. "Tell me Temari-sama, does Kazekage-sama have a girlfriend?"

Temari found herself wanting to be sucked under the water in a sudden whirlpool….never to be seen again. "If Kazekage-same has a girlfriend I've never heard about it." said the sandy blonde.

Airi smiled at her younger comrades. "Surely Temari-sama wouldn't want to pry into her Father's love life girls. Besides, I can't think of any single kunoichi in Suna that wouldn't love to date him; myself included."

"I agree entirely." said Chikako. "The Kazekage is a total dreamboat."

The eldest of the Sand Siblings simply sat there cringing as the other four kunoichi's carried on about how wonderful the Kazekage was. ' _Someone_ _ **please**_ _kill me now_.' thought Temari.

 _Over on the men's side_ ….

Gaara was soaking in the hot springs though it didn't do much for him. He was sitting alone with Kankuro. "What do you think is going on?" asked Kankuro. "This whole situation is surreal. Seeing the Kazekage being friendly to us is really disturbing."

"Baki-sensei just said to roll with it." said Gaara. "For once I'm inclined to agree with him although I still fail to see the point in this."

"It's probably not much of an experience with your sand armor up Gaara." said Kankuro. " _Not_ that I'm suggesting you drop it or anything." The elder brother added hastily.

Gaara shrugged. "It is a waste of time but the Kazekage has ordered it so I guess we'll soak awhile. Baki-sensei is over there with Kazekage-sama. Perhaps they are plotting against me."

Kankuro sighed. "I doubt it Gaara but be on guard just in case."

"You look strange without your makeup." commented Gaara.

The puppet user ground his teeth. " _It's war paint_." he growled.

For a second there was a ghost of a smile on Gaara's face….

 **Konoha, South Gate**

The ANBU team comprised of Dove, Bear and Gazeru met up and quickly took off at ninja speeds towards Outpost 6. "We should easily be there by afternoon." said Dove. "Assuming they are good to go we'll bring Yūgao and her _ANBU Brats_ home tomorrow morning. If we are lucky we'll get back in time for the Kazekage's arrival and be able to help out."

Bear replied, " _ANBU Brats_ or not I doubt they'll be able to keep up with us that well. They _are_ only genins. Of course that's assuming they are in good enough shape to travel at high speeds to begin with."

' _You'd all better be safe Naruto-kun. I'm really worried_.' thought Hikari to herself.

Hikari was brought out of her reverie by Dove. "You okay there Gazeru? I know you just got out of physical therapy."

Gazeru nodded. "I'm fine Dove senpai. I was just concerned about Yūgao senpai and Fox-sensei. I still have a lot to learn from him."

Dove chuckled, "I was under the impression you had _other_ interests in ANBU Fox as well Gazeru. I heard he visited you _every single day_ while you were in the medical ward."

Hikari was blushing under her mask. "Fox-sensei is a brilliant teacher…." defended Gazeru weakly. Dove just laughed at her younger comrade's expense.

 **Ninja Outpost Station Number 6**

Naruto, Maya and Hinata were all up and showered before changing into some fresh uniforms for a late brunch. They were soon joined by their sensei Yūgao who was glad to see all her students looking healthy and well. "How are you feeling Maya?" asked the purple haired jonin kindly.

Maya said between bites, "Really hungry! But aside of that I'm just sore. I should be able to set out soon. When are we leaving Yūgao-sensei?"

"If we leave by noon we could easily make it back to Konoha by nightfall sensei." said Naruto.

Hinata added, "Well need to resupply here before we move out sensei. We went through a lot of rations in Tea Country."

Yūgao smiled at their enthusiasm. "There's no hurry kids. Captain Tenzō reported our situation to the Hokage and another team is being sent to escort us and our client back to Konoha tomorrow morning. If we were to run into more trouble on par with Natsume Shin's group we could be in real trouble and Hokage-sama doesn't want to risk it. Judging by the trip so far our client Natsuko is apparently a prime target for just about _everybody_."

"So Natsuko is travelling with us instead of heading back to the Nadeshiko Village?" asked Hinata in a flat tone.

Seeing Yūgao nod Maya asked, "Is our mission considered a failure because we didn't deliver her to the Fire Capital?"

Naruto said glumly, "The Fire Shrine in the Capitol wouldn't pay us for delivering a kunoichi to them anyway is my guess."

"Actually there are several parties involved." explained Yūgao. "The Fire Shrine paid us to deliver a Miko but we discovered the 'Miko' was actually a kunoichi so they still may have some obligation to pay us for discovering that because we protected them. That's up to the Hokage to negotiate. Also the Nadeshiko Village may need to pay part of the bill because they sent in one of their own in our territory and that could be considered an international incident though I doubt it will escalate to that level. It's a hard call that will probably take weeks and maybe some litigation to hammer out. Luckily for us we will be compensated for this mission from Konoha's vaults and all the other litigation will be handled by others."

"What rank is this mission even considered sensei?" asked Hinata. "Both Naruto-kun and Maya-chan were seriously hurt."

The purple haired sword mistress replied, "I'm not even sure what rank this mission should be considered now. All the insanity and battles we went through are worth a hell of a lot more than a C rank. That's for sure. The Hokage will have to review the situation in detail. The whole mess in Numa no Mura alone is more than most experienced ninjas could have survived. I'm very proud of all of you."

"I wonder what Hokage-Jiji is going to think about all this." pondered Naruto aloud.

"That's right!" exclaimed Yūgao. "In our absence Tsunade-sama was inaugurated as our honorable Fifth Hokage and Sarutobi-sama retired. I verified it with Captain Tenzō earlier when we received our instructions."

"Jiji retired?" asked Naruto in shock.

"He retired before." said Yūgao humorously. "I think he earned it; don't you?"

"That means he's probably going to be spending more time with Hanako Obaa-chan." said Hinata with narrowed eyes. "He'd better not try anything perverted with her."

Maya's blue eyes glittered with malice. "We told him we were watching him but he may try to pull something while we're out on missions."

Yūgao was a bit amused and said, "Correct me if I'm wrong but Hanako-sama and Sarutobi-sama _are_ consenting adults last time I checked. They legally can do whatever perverted things they want." The girls both blushed and Yūgao laughed.

Naruto was sitting there thinking about Sarutobi-Jiji and his picture of a teenaged Hanako Obaa-chan in her striped bikini. Naruto thought to himself, ' _Yeah, the Old Man is a total pervert_ ….'

 **Konoha, the Natsume Clan Home**

The Third Hokage sneezed. ' _Somebody must be talking about me_.' Sarutobi Hiruzen and his grandson Konohamaru had gone over to the Natsume residence where Hiruzen planned to leave his grandson under Natsu's watchful eye while he and Hanako-chan went out for a nice lunch date…. _Alas, the best laid plans_ ….

"Let's go to Amaguriama Sweets Shop after lunch Obaa-chan!" said Hanabi happily. Using the dreaded puppy eye no jutsu; Hanabi turned to Hiruzen, "Don't you and your grandson want to go there too, Hiruzen-sama?"

Hanako matched her granddaughter's terrible attack and said, "I'm sure the children would enjoy it Hiruzen-kun." The poor old man never stood a chance in hell. Hanako hid her smile as she watched Hiruzen melt under pressure a double puppy eye no jutsu.

Konohamaru was buckling as well and he was hardly old enough to understand the most terrifying jutsu in a woman's arsenal. Hiruzen patted Hanabi on the head and said with a weak smile of utter defeat. "Of course we can Hanabi-chan. I'm sure Konohamaru-kun would like that too."

Only decades of self control kept Hanako from bursting into laughter at Hiruzen's expense. ' _Ah, it seems Hanabi-chan has it too. I'm so proud to be a Grandmother right now!_ '

As Hanako and Hanabi went inside to get their sandals, Konohamaru said, "What just happened Jiji?"

Hiruzen answered, "Don't worry about it Konohamaru. It's an ancient spell that has rendered Sarutobi men defenseless since the dawn of time. It appears we are on a double date grandson of mine."

Soon Hanako and Hanabi came back with matching smiles on their faces and Hiruzen couldn't help but smile back. ' _I swear Hanako-chan makes me feel like a teenage boy again_.'

 **The town of Onsen no machi**

The Kazekage and his entourage set out in the early afternoon. The morning's relaxation at the hot springs had everyone feeling refreshed and eager to head to Konoha….and the Sand Siblings were a bit confused. As they got back in travelling formation Temari and her brothers were discussing things quietly amongst themselves. Between love struck kunoichis and the Kazekage actually seeming….jovial all three of them were completely baffled. "Even Mother agrees this is _not_ normal and wants to go home to Suna." whispered Gaara to his siblings.

"Finding out the Kazekage has a huge fan club of Suna kunoichis scares me too." said Kankuro. "What has he _possibly_ got that we don't Gaara?"

"The Kazekage's popularity is baffling. Mother thinks so too." agreed Gaara.

Temari wanted to face palm. ' _My brothers are actually behaving like_ _ **brothers**_ _now. Maybe if I smack them both around a bit they'll start acting normally again….Then again, finding out a respected jonin kunoichi like Airi-san has a picture of the Kazekage on her dresser at home. The fact she wanted to know his favorite foods is worse. I'm glad the others already knew it is basically anything with meat. I almost blurted out that he is a vegan_.' Turning to her two siblings she said, "We have to be strong and endure this trip. I'm sure once we get back to Suna things will return to normal. -It's that or I'll hang myself."

 **Ninja Outpost Station Number 6**

Gazeru and her team arrived in the late afternoon and reported in to Captain Tenzō. They all saluted and Dove said, "ANBU Dove, Bear and Gazeru reporting. We are on escort detail for Team 11 and their client under the orders of the Fifth Hokage." She handed her orders over for inspection to Tenzō who confirmed them.

Tenzō said, "You'll have your hands full then, the client is a Nadeshiko Village chunin kunoichi who claims her village's convoluted laws require her to marry genin Uzumaki Naruto because he saved her life somehow or other."

A massive killing intent and the sound of grinding teeth came from behind Gazeru's mask made Dove and Bear slowly turn back to their younger teammate in fear. Gazeru hissed, " _I'll just have to_ _ **talk**_ _to this Nadeshiko kunoichi and set her straight then won't I?_ " Then she stormed back towards the common area.

Bear said unsteadily, "You must have nerves of steel Captain Tenzō. Dove and I were shaken by that killing intent. I never knew Gazeru had it in her."

Tenzō shrugged. "The two genin kunoichi's on Team 11 reacted the same way. Killing intent that potent is hard to find. I guess Uzumaki must be really popular with the ladies. I wonder how many casualties there will be."

….

Gazeru burst into the common area and saw Hinata sitting there at a lunch table looking peeved. Hinata looked up and said, "Hikari?"

Waving her finger in front of her mask in a shushing manner Hikari said, "I'm on duty; it's _Gazeru_."

" _Oops_." said Hinata covering her mouth. "What are you doing out here Gazeru? Not that I'm not happy to see you and all…."

Gazeru sat down opposite of Hinata and said, "My ANBU Team is here to escort your team back to Konoha. Captain Tenzō said that your client is a Nadeshiko kunoichi that is trying to steal Naruto-kun."

Hinata nodded. "She has a lot of gall. Her name is Natsuko and she's been trying to seduce Naruto-kun this entire mission. Now she's claiming that she is to marry Naruto-kun because he rescued her in Numa no Mura. Supposedly a Nadeshiko kunoichi is required to marry a ninja who has proven himself to be stronger than her in combat. It's some Nadeshiko Village law according to her."

What did Naruto-kun say?" asked Hikari.

"Naruto-kun said he already loves someone else and can't marry her." said Hinata. "That should have been the end of it but Natsuko won't take no for an answer and is doing her best to hang all over Naruto-kun. Maya-chan and I trust Naruto-kun but we're both very angry that she's messing with our man."

Gazeru sighed. "Well, it's not as bad as I expected. Where are Naruto-kun and Maya?"

"Maya is getting checked over by Doctor Kumadori and Naruto-kun is back in the bunk area working on a new fuinjutsu seal." said Hinata. "He is rather annoyed with Natsuko."

"I'm going to go see him then." said Hikari.

Hinata nodded as the blonde ANBU kunoichi left to see Naruto.

….

Naruto was surprised to see Gazeru come in the room. He was even more surprised when she took her mask off and gave him a passionate kiss. When they separated she gave him a big smile and her green eyes glittered with happiness. "I've missed you Naruto-kun. I'm so happy to see you."

The blonde seal master smiled and said, "I'm happy to see you too Hikari-chan. What brings you down to Outpost 6? Are you on a mission out here or can you talk about it?"

"My mission is to escort Team 11 and your client back to Konoha along with ANBU Bear and Dove." explained the kunoichi.

"It's a shame you have to keep your pretty face under a mask the whole trip." said Naruto.

Hikari giggled before she set her mask down. "It will just be something you can look forward to when we get back to Konoha." Then Hikari got more serious. "I heard you had a run in with Natume Shin. Is Maya okay?"

Naruto nodded, "Maya-chan got pretty beat up but she fended him off. She seems okay but I'm worried about her. That had to be a huge stress. I plan to talk to her about it once we get back to Konoha."

"I'm sure all of you will need to see a Yamanaka after this." said Hikari. "You weren't meant to take on high level missing nins on just a C ranked escort mission."

"Compared to the village we had to destroy the missing nins were a cakewalk." replied Naruto with a shudder.

"What exactly happened?" asked Hikari with concern in her voice.

Naruto answered, "Until we clear the situation with the Hokage I'm not sure I can talk about it. Let's just say it was a living nightmare for now."

Hikari gave Naruto a warm hug. "Once we get back to Konoha we'll take care of all three of you Naruto-kun." The pair sat together talking about inconsequential things and were soon joined by Hinata and Maya. Naruto was happy to see all three girls were getting along so nicely. He hoped that Hikari-chan could 'officially' be his girlfriend as well with Maya-chan and Hinata-chan's approval.

After a quiet dinner everyone turned in a bit early so they could leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow….

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, this was basically a filler chapter though that wasn't my original intention. Anyway, that pretty much wraps things up for the Tea Country Arc. I really planned to get everyone into Konoha in this chapter but the aftermath of last chapter took up way too much space. The Sand Siblings are banding together in total confusion in the face of Rasa actually trying to spoil them a bit. Natsuko seems to have fallen back on the old Nadeshiko laws out of the blue. More on that next chapter. The question is why? Hikari seems closer with Hinata and Maya than before as well. Next chapter the Kazekage's entourage will arrive and Team 11 will return to Konoha. See you next time. Blue out. 4/27/16


	34. Chapter 34

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

Wow! This is my first story to break 900 reviews. Thanks to everyone so much for their support. It's been awhile and I'm trying to get back into the groove of updating my four core stories. For those interested I've been distracted by my new Naruto/RWBY crossover, **_Tornado of Souls_**. In this chapter Team 11 _finally_ will make it home! So, without further ado here is chapter 34 of **_Curse of the Ryugan_**. Enjoy!

Last time:

 _…_ _.Then Hikari got more serious. "I heard you had a run in with Natume Shin. Is Maya okay?"_

 _Naruto nodded, "Maya-chan got pretty beat up but she fended him off. She seems okay but I'm worried about her. That had to be a huge stress. I plan to talk to her about it once we get back to Konoha."_

 _"_ _I'm sure all of you will need to see a Yamanaka after this." said Hikari. "You weren't meant to take on high level missing nins on just a C ranked escort mission."_

 _"_ _Compared to the village we had to destroy the missing nins were a cakewalk." replied Naruto with a shudder._

 _"_ _What exactly happened?" asked Hikari with concern in her voice._

 _Naruto answered, "Until we clear the situation with the Hokage I'm not sure I can talk about it. Let's just say it was a living nightmare for now."_

 _Hikari gave Naruto a warm hug. "Once we get back to Konoha we'll take care of all three of you Naruto-kun." The pair sat together talking about inconsequential things and were soon joined by Hinata and Maya. Naruto was happy to see all three girls were getting along so nicely. He hoped that Hikari-chan could 'officially' be his girlfriend as well with Maya-chan and Hinata-chan's approval._

 _After a quiet dinner everyone turned in a bit early so they could leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow…._

 **Chapter 34**

 **Fire Country, Ninja Outpost Station Number 6**

It was early in the morning and Team 11 and company were having a big breakfast before they set off for Konoha. Natsuko was making conversation with Naruto. "I had my eye on your amazing skills all along Naruto-kun, but after you saved me at Numa no Mura I knew that you were destined to be my partner. In the Nadeshiko Village kunoichis have to be very particular in choosing a husband. The man must prove himself stronger than her and when you rescued me I was helpless. After my mission to the Fire Capital was done I intended to come to Konoha and declare myself to you."

' _Suuuure you were…._ ' thought Maya and Hinata as one.

"What happened in this Numa no Mura Village that was so bad anyway?" asked Bear puzzled.

Natsuko piped up and said, "It was infested by _demons_ and only Naruto-kun's amazing skill with seals saved us. I would certainly have died or worse."

" _Demons?_ " asked Bear.

Yūgao growled, "That information is classified for the Hokage's ear only Natsuko. Speak no more of it."

"But Naruto-kun was really brave and I-" started Natsuko.

"If you want safe passage through Fire Country then _shut up now_ Natsuko." said Yūgao in an iron tone. The Nadeshiko kunoichi pouted.

"Getting back on track, our team seems to be in good shape all things considered." said Maya. "I personally can't wait to get back to Konoha."

Naruto nodded. "I'm with you their Maya-chan. We should consider taking an easier mission when we get back so we can unwind a bit."

"It might be a good idea to remain in Fire Country this time." added Hinata.

Yūgao said, "After everything that happened on this mission Team 11 will have a _mandatory_ rest period and will get full physical and psyche evaluations. That is standard protocol for missions in the A and above range. I'm proud of your work ethic but you three have to realize that you need to rest your bodies and minds or you'll burn out. The Hokage would say the same."

The three genins on Team 11 sighed and said in unison, "….Yes Yūgao-sensei."

Hikari stifled a giggle at their droning response….

….

 **Konoha Village**

The Kazekage and his group arrived at the Konoha Village front gates around 9 A.M. and were received warmly by Tsunade. Accompanying her were her advisors Sarutobi Hiruzen and Hyūga Hanako who had agreed to become an advisor the evening before. Talk of the village was split between the Kazekage's visit and the dawn executions of Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura for acts of treason as well as the announcement of Shimura Danzo's previous execution. Rasa and his entourage were a bit taken aback at that news.

"Please forgive the poor timing Kazekage-sama." said Tsunade conversationally. "The date of the executions was set long before we knew the date of your arrival. As I am the new Hokage I'm afraid that I cannot falter in delivering swift justice to _traitors_ of all kinds. I have the eyes of the villagers and the nation to consider after all."

Rasa was sweating slightly and said, "I understand perfectly Hokage-sama. I would do the exact same if I was in your shoes." After some brief introductions the Kazekage and his entourage were set up with some luxurious guest quarters and Rasa agreed that he and Tsunade should start their talks the next morning and simply have a welcoming luncheon for the Kazekage and his party today.

At the hotel the Sand Siblings were soon standing in front of the Kazekage. "You three will be sitting with me at the luncheon so treat our hosts with the great respect they are due. You will all be wearing formal attire. Temari, make sure your brothers are presentable. Kankuro; no war paint. And Gaara…. _try_ to be amiable." Rasa sounded stressed on the last bit. "I expect you all to display model behavior as Suna shinobis."

As soon as the Kazekage departed Kankuro groaned. "I have to dress in a formal kimono _and_ go without my war paint? I never signed up for this duty."

That's when he got clobbered by a large scroll with his formal clothes in it that Temari tossed at him. "Take a shower and get dressed Kankuro. Gaara, when Kankuro gets out go ahead and shower. I'll be across the hall getting ready myself."

"This whole trip has been one strange stunt after another." said Gaara forlornly. "Mother thinks this is ridiculous."

"I agree with ' _Mother'_ entirely." said Temari as she left the room irritated.

"On the positive side some people got executed" said Kankuro with a grin at his younger brother. Seeing Gaara's flat look he said, "Right….I'll be taking that shower now."

"First the hot springs and now a formal lunch." muttered Gaara. "What will the Kazekage have us do next?"

….

 **Southern Fire Country**

" _You've_ _ **got**_ _to be kidding me!_ " roared Maya as the silver of the Reiki flashed in front of her and crashed into the ronin samurai's katana in a shower of sparks. It seemed that the universe was conspiring against Team 11 getting home safely. "This is ridiculous; are we cursed?! _I am ssooooo fucking_ _ **pissed!**_ " growled the silver haired beauty as she cut the man down with brutal efficiency. Blood sprayed everywhere as she hit a major artery. If the Natsume heiress had left it at that he would have bled out and died regardless but she spun rapidly and removed him as any sort of threat by beheading him before the thug hit the ground. Unfortunately for the ronins involved that tried to ambush Team 11, Yūgao and her genins were tired of being on the butt end of this cosmic joke called a _simple escort mission_ and these poor, hapless rogue samurai were on the receiving end of Team 11's ire.

For her part Yūgao was rather pleased with her new katana. ' _Originally I was going to turn this blade in but I think I'll keep it after all. It needs a better name though. Sword Breaker is kind of unimaginative._ ' thought the purple haired sword mistress. By channeling chakra through her katana the leading edge of it vibrated at incredibly high speed which vastly increased its cutting power for brief periods of time. She was particularly pleased with the look on her opponent's face when his blade was cut in half –along with his arm. As he dove for cover with a shriek Yūgao noted that the ANBU and Natsuko were certainly holding their own but Naruto, Maya and Hinata were tearing up their opponents with extreme prejudice.

Hinata was against a skilled swordsman that kept deflecting her hits so only flat end of the Hakutsume blades would make contact. The heiress got a bit peeved at his obnoxious, buck toothed grin. ' _Well, I have to admit he has lots of experience compared to me. He always stops my blades a fraction of an inch from hitting him. Judging by his smile he's showing off and trying to taunt me into making an error. Maybe I can use his overconfidence against him_ ….' The Hyūga heiress charged her Hakutsume blades with chakra and _intentionally_ aimed to hit him in the head with the flat end of her blade where he could block at the last second. The result sounded like a thunderclap as the equivalent of a metal edged, chakra enhanced bitch slap took the buck toothed swordsman's head clean off his shoulders in an explosive manner. In spite of being showered with gore Hinata found herself inordinately pleased with the results of her improvised technique….

The noise distracted Naruto's opponent (seeing a friend's head explode usually does that) and the blonde ninja ran the ronin through the heart with Shippuuhime before taking his head with the ever bloodthirsty Kurimuzo. The macabre spectacle of the sword drinking the dead man's blood as he fell to the ground was still a bit spooky to Naruto but using his willpower the Uzumaki Prince could command the sword to stop at will. Naruto turned and spun the demonic wakizashi in a crimson arc to get the excess blood off of it and turned to face another opponent that was terrified by the crimson edged blade….

The morale of the ronins was falling rapidly given what they thought was easy prey due to their superior numbers was turning out to be like being thrown into the water with a bunch of frenzied sharks. One of the rogue samurai that was apparently high in the pecking order yelled for a retreat and the ronins quickly withdrew of their own accord after that. ANBU Bear and Dove were both shocked at the sheer numbers the three genins took down. "I expected Yūgao to take out as many as she did but those genins…." said Dove quietly.

Bear was at a loss for words himself and said, "I guess they really are _ANBU Brats_ …."

Natsuko was congratulating Naruto on his sword skills though in his opinion he was less skilled than the girls. "You were amazing Naruto-kun! That wakizashi of yours….I remember some story about a sword that drank blood. I think it belonged to a royal family or something…." said the Nadeshiko kunoichi.

Naruto looked like a deer caught in the headlights but Yūgao intervened and said, "Get your swords cleaned up Naruto. We're moving out quickly. Natsuko, are you injured?"

"No, I'm fine." answered Natsuko.

Yūgao nodded. "Good; in that case go over to Dove and inform her you are uninjured."

As Natsuko walked over to Dove; Naruto said to Yūgao; "Thank you sensei. I was at a loss for words about Kurimuzo."

Yūgao patted his shoulder. "Any time Naruto-kun."

Gazeru finished wiping off her katana and said. "Well done guys. That was some impressive swordsmanship there."

"We still need to improve Gazeru." said Maya shaking her head. "We're all still fatigued more than I realized. I just want to go home."

The roughed up group was soon underway again….

….

 **Konoha Village**

The luncheon for the Kazekage was…. _different_ ….as far as Temari was concerned. She had been to many formal meetings of this nature but never in a foreign country and _never_ with someone that could be the Kazekage's equal. ' _Tsunade-sama has a presence and power that I've only seen matched by the Kazekage himself. I wonder if I could have that same kind of strength some day_.' pondered the Suna Princess. She also felt the very imposing presences of Hiruzen and Hanako but they weren't projecting it as much as Tsunade. The only time Temari made eye contact with Hanako she felt as is the older woman could see her every thought….

Rasa was sitting with Gōza and Sajō of the Suna Senior Council who were acting as his advisors. Baki was also on Council also but his job was monitoring his team for now. As it was, Gaara seemed rather subdued so nothing bad had happened so far. Rasa was making small talk about the trip from Suna and both leaders were sizing each other up. Rasa thought to himself, ' _I had little doubt that Sarutobi-sama would pick a worthy successor but Orochimaru's assurance that she is no threat is a total lie. I've met Sarutobi-sama before and he is certainly no slouch despite his age. I'm not sure what to think of Hyūga Hanako-sama but there is no doubt in my mind she is formidable. Her gaze is absolutely_ _ **unnerving**_ _. I know Temari felt it too. My daughter is quite good at reading people and even then Temari is shying away from the woman. That is_ _ **unheard**_ _of with her discipline_.'

Kankuro was sweating a bit. There wasn't any pressure aimed at him per se but being in the presence of so many powerful people had him nervous. ' _Gods I hope Gaara doesn't snap_.' He glanced over at his little brother who was simply eating quietly. ' _Well, he looks calm enough I guess. I can't wait till this lunch is over_.' Looking over at Temari the puppet user thought to himself. ' _Nee-chan is forcing herself almost as much as I am_.' Temari caught his glance and nodded to Kankuro in a reassuring manner. Kankuro nodded back. ' _Things will work out okay_.'

As Gaara quietly ate he got the odd feeling that both Temari and Kankuro were protecting him in their own way. ' _I wonder why I feel that way. It is a strange sensation_ ….' thought the redhead. The bijuu trapped within him was silent for once and he simply decided to tune out the conversation and eat.

Baki watched his three charges carefully. ' _Gaara isn't showing any signs of instability. Kankuro and Temari are coping as well as can be expected. Maybe once this luncheon is over I can take them someplace to relax_.' The Suna jonin was feeling a bit of the pressure himself. ' _If it's bothering me then the kids must be in hell_ ….'

….

 **Fire Country, Forest**

Naruto finished setting up a seal barrier behind a camouflage barrier and activated it. "Now we can eat." said the blonde ninja as he sat down.

Bear looked at the ironclad barrier around them and said, "No offense but isn't this…. _barrier_ a bit overkill?" Seeing the genins of Team 11 glaring at him the ANBU said sheepishly, "On the other hand; safe is always good."

ANBU Dove watched as the genins quickly and efficiently broke out their meals from storage scrolls and passed her a plate of shrimp tempura that was piping hot along with some green tea. Dove stared for a minute and then saw Gazeru was digging into her meal with gusto and complimenting Hinata on her culinary skills. "I can't believe how well you can cook Hinata. This is good enough for a restaurant!"

Bear and Dove both dug into their meals and Bear said, "This really is good! How did you bring it out without heating it up first?"

"I fried it up three weeks ago and Naruto-kun sealed it up straight out of the sesame seed oil." explained Hinata. "It's still fresh and hot from then."

"But how?" asked Dove bufuddled.

Naruto simply said, "You can accomplish _anything_ with seals. Hinata-chan's food is the real magic here. All I did was seal it in scrolls."

Maya nodded. "Best of all we have great food that takes no time to prepare in the field. Of course we normally don't treat ourselves this way."

"You kids deserve it now and again." said Yūgao. "Anyway, this has been a hard march. Those ronins showing up when they did earlier was incredibly bad timing."

Bear and Dove were scheming to get into Team 11's good graces so they could eat like royalty in the field instead of the cardboard flavored rations they normally had….

As the quiet banter went on Natsuko looked at Naruto and Team 11's damaged uniforms with bloodstains and burn marks. ' _Naruto-kun; you and your teammates are very special. What is it that drives you so hard to succeed? The Nadeshiko Village would welcome such strong and skilled members with open arms_.' Natsuko looked at their sensei. ' _Yūgao calls them genins but most chunins I've met wouldn't have survived this journey_.' Looking back at Naruto the Nadeshiko kunoichi thought to herself, ' _How can I get you to come home with me Naruto-kun?_ '

….

 **Konoha Village, Hotel Guest Quarters**

The Sand Siblings were having an impromptu family meeting back at the hotel. All three of them looked stressed. "Well, on the positive side we survived that meal. I feared it would be my last." said Kankuro.

Gaara said quietly, "There was simply too much power there. It was overwhelming. Even Mother was silenced."

What's Shukaku saying now?" asked Temari. "I can see by the way you are twitching that it's yelling at you little brother."

"She wants me to crush Baki so we can run away from this place." said Gaara in a monotone. Seeing the looks of apprehension on the faces of his siblings Gaara said, "I told her it was too reckless. I need to preserve my existence."

Temari and Kankuro both sighed in relief. "Yes, you staying safe is important for all of us Gaara." said Temari sadly.

' _Why does Temari sound so sad?_ ' wondered Gaara. ' _This whole trip has been very strange. I normally don't think of Temari and Kankuro at all except when our team is in battle. Why am I concerned about them now? Is it because Mother has been so unsteady lately?_ '

Alas, the redheaded jinchuriki had no answers to his questions….

….

 **Konoha Front Gates**

Izumo and Kotetsu saw Yūgao with her genins approaching in a diamond formation with Natsuko protected in the center. ANBU Dove, Bear and Gazeru separated from Team 11 at the front gates. Yūgao signed in and said, "Jonin Uzuki Yūgao and Team 11 reporting in from Tea Country Escort Mission." She motioned to Natsuko. "Our client Natsuko of the Nadeshiko Village is accompanying us. We need to report to the Hokage directly."

"You'll need to report to Jonin Commander Nara Shikaku." said Izumo. "Hokage-sama is in conference with Kazekage-sama."

Yūgao visibly sagged. "The fun never ends. Where can we meet the Jonin Commander, Izumo?"

Kotetsu chimed in and said, "He's at the mission hall where the Hokage normally is." He noticed the _very_ attractive Natsuko and said, "I'll need to see your travel papers Nadeshiko kunoichi-san."

Natsuko said, "I have clearance papers from your border station commander Captain Tenzo. Will those work?"

Team 11 was taken slightly aback at Natsuko's all business like attitude. ' _I'm surprised she isn't batting her eyelashes at our gate guards or at least flirting with them_.' thought Maya. ' _I'll never figure this woman out_.'

Naruto and Hinata were thinking along the same lines as Maya while Natsuko went through the standard check in procedures.

As the battered team marched towards the Mission Hall, they were spotted by Nagi Souichiro and Makihara Bob. Souichiro went to say hello but a businesslike nod from the usually jovial Naruto made him pause. The two Academy students saw their friends looked like they'd been through a war. Maya mouthed ' _Later_ ' as Team 11 marched on by.

" _Damn_ Bob, did you see them?" asked Souichiro. "I was going to talk with them but they were all bloody and dirty. Do you think they are alright?"

Bob was a bit dumbstruck as well. "Well, none of them were limping or moving like they were hurting. Maybe we ought to go out to the Natsume place. Masataka is probably out there helping Aya with her homework now."

The blonde nodded. "That sounds like a plan Bob. We can just say we came out to help Aya with her homework too."

Bob shook his head and sweat dropped. "No one would _ever_ believe you're helping anybody with bookwork Souichiro. If anything Aya's grades would _drop_. Let's just say we saw Maya was back and decided to tell Aya. I don't want to get smacked by Hanako-sama for lying."

Souichiro cringed. "Good point. That old granny is a walking lie detector."

….

 **Mission Hall**

Team 11 came in to the Mission Hall and people were stepping aside looking at the torn up group that appeared to be on a death march. Yūgao stepped up in front of Nara Shikaku and said. "Team 11 reporting in Commander." Using ANBU hand signals she signed [Full S-Class Report].

Shikaku took in the sight before him and said in a bored tone, "Well, this just got troublesome."

Natsuko looked confused and the genins of Team 11 just had a huge group sweat drop. ' _Now there's absolutely_ _ **no**_ _doubt he's Shikamaru's Father_ ….' thought the three genins in disbelief.

….

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Aya was sitting with Masataka discussing the lesson on ninja tactics and Aya had swirls in her eyes. "Tsubaki sensei expects us to understand this?!" she asked confused.

Masataka smiled softly. "It's a bonus question Aya-chan. It's supposed to be really hard. You know Tsubaki-sensei never gives out extra points for free."

"No kidding." said Aya. "We should get bonus points just for _understanding_ the question. I'll skip it. I don't need bonus points to pass. I wish I was smart like you and Maya nee-chan Masataka-kun."

They heard a knock at the door and a "Yo; is anyone home?" in Souichiro's usual loud voice.

Masataka sweat dropped and Aya giggled. "I'll get it." said Aya.

However, Natsu shot by in a flash and said, "I'll get it Aya-sama!" Opening the door Natsu sighed at the (usual) disheveled appearance of Souichiro and Bob. She said formally, "Makihara-san, Nagi-san; what brings you young gentlemen by?"

Souichiro smiled and said, "We came to see Aya and tell her Maya and Team 11 made it back earlier. We thought you'd like to know."

"Maya nee-chan is back?! That's great news." said Aya happily.

Natsu let the two troublemakers in realizing they actually had a legitimate reason for being there. "Come in and sit. I'll get some tea for everyone." said Natsu. Then she whispered harshly to Souichiro. " _No_ swearing in front of Hanabi-sama or I'll juken you again!"

The blonde held his hands up in surrender before Natsu shot off to the kitchen. "Damn, sometimes I forget the maid's a kunoichi too Bob."

"Just turn your filter Nagi." said Masataka helpfully.

Bob laughed. "This is Souichiro we're talking about here; I don't think he has a filter."

Hanabi came out with Natsu. "I heard Maya nee is home! Are Hinata nee-chan and Naruto niisan home too Nagi-san?"

"Hey Brat!" said Souichiro. Noticing Natsu glaring daggers at him the blonde coughed and said, "I mean _Hanabi-chan_. And yeah, they are all back but were headed towards the mission hall. I guess they had to make a post mission report."

Aya said, "How did they look?"

The blonde replied, "Oh, they looked like shi-"

Bob smacked the back of Souichiro's head and made him face plant on the table to keep him from swearing. "They looked really tired from their mission." said Bob diplomatically with a weak smile.

Hanabi raised one eyebrow skeptically and said, "Tired huh?"

' _Curse this little mini version of granny Hanako!_ ' thought Souichiro. ' _It's like she can read minds!_ '

Bob nodded. "Well, more like exhausted. It's been a long trip for them I imagine."

Aya smiled and said, "We'll see them when they get home Hanabi-chan."

….

 **Mission Hall**

Over the last two hours; Shikaku had listened to the most confounding mission report a genin team had ever given on in his lifetime. ' _Thank the gods this was Shikamaru's team. Yūgao's Team 11 is tougher than nails_.' "So what happened _after_ you left Outpost 6 this morning?"

Yūgao said in a bored tone, "That's when the twenty nine ronins attacked us. They weren't aware of our ANBU escort and we suffered no further injuries."

"So the ANBU Team drove them off?" asked the Nara.

The purple haired sword mistress shook her head and said, "No, everyone was engaged in combat with the ronins. Only about a third of them had real skills so we drove them off fairly easily."

The Jonin Commander cringed. "I hate to ask but how many actually got away?"

Yūgao motioned to Hinata. The Hyūga heiress said, "Eleven escaped but one was missing half an arm. Odds are he bled out later but there is no way to confirm it."

"So eighteen ronins lost their lives and probably nineteen because they made the simple mistake of crossing your path?" asked Shikaku.

Naruto answered, "Actually they attempted to ambush us but Hinata-chan spotted them in advance so we were able to surprise them."

Shikaku was seriously considering getting something to drink….or retiring….or both. "So, to sum up Team 11 racked up the highest body count for one C-ranked mission in the history of the Elemental Nations?!" asked the Jonin Commander. Seeing the flat look on all four members of Team 11's faces he simply said. "This is beyond troublesome. Keep the business about Numa no Mura quiet for now. Discussion about that is for the Hokage to decide. The rest is at your discretion. You are dismissed Team 11."

….

"Well, I guess that mission description was a bit hard to follow." said Yūgao. "Fortunately we already had our written reports done in advance. Otherwise we would have been in the mission hall until midnight."

"I just want to go home and soak in the hot springs." said Maya.

"That sounds like a great idea." said Natsuko appearing out of nowhere.

Team 11 jumped and Yūgao growled, " _Never do that again!_ "

….

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Maya, Hinata and Naruto dragged themselves home after _depositing_ Natsuko at her guest quarters at the hotel. They'd already been scheduled for a _mandatory_ visit to the hospital along with Yūgao the next morning so sleeping in was out of the question. The collective thought of the three genins was ' _Regulations are_ _ **evil**_ _….Sensei is_ _ **evil**_ _….I want to sleep._ ' As the three sleepwalked towards home they heard the Academy students and Hanabi carrying on rather loudly from within the house.

"Sounds like a party is going on….let's go crash at my apartment." said Naruto.

Maya and Hinata shook their heads ' _no_ ' in perfect unison and each grabbed one of Naruto's arms before pulling him forward. Maya opened the door and said in a subdued tone, "We're home everybody."

Aya looked up and happily said, "Maya nee-chan!" Then she saw her older sister's battered appearance and said in shock, " _Maya nee-chan! Are you alright?_ " Aya's eyes got wider as Naruto and Hinata filed in looking just as bad.

Hanabi rushed over and hugged Hinata. "Hinata nee-chan; are you okay?"

Hinata hugged Hanabi warmly and said, "I'm glad to be home Hanabi-chan. Seeing everyone here makes me feel so much better."

Natsu was soon fussing over the trio of worn out teens and sat them down to relax and eat some dinner.

Souichiro was shocked seeing Naruto's uniform. The right arm was shredded and the mesh was ruined….not to mention the bloodstains and burn marks. Souichiro had seen Naruto from the left side. He asked, "Naruto Aniki, what the hell happened to your arm? How are you not in the hospital?"

Naruto shrugged and said, "It was a near miss from an exploding tag. I'm fine now; I heal fast after all. Shame about the uniform though."

All three members of Team 11 were bombarded with questions after that until Natsu quieted everyone down. "Everyone give them time to eat! Hinata-sama, Maya-sama and Naruto-san need to relax. It's obvious they had a rough mission. I believe a good shower and some sleep is what they really need." It was obvious the maid was a bit frazzled because she hadn't even smacked Souichiro for cussing in front of Hanabi-sama.

About an hour later the three members of Team 11 finished eating and each took a hot shower before they went to bed early. All three of them wanted to curl up and hold each other but explaining why Naruto and a clone of his were sleeping with Maya and Hinata was a question they really weren't up to answering that evening.

….

Hanako got home after the three teens went to bed. She found the rather subdued Aya and her classmates sitting with Hanabi playing cards. The Hyūga matriarch had seen Team 11's mission report and could honestly say she was immensely proud of the children for handling such a trial by fire so well. ' _The business with Numa no Mura alone was astounding_.' thought Hanako idly. ' _The fact their mission all turned out in vain had to be disheartening though. I'll need to talk to Maya about her run in with her older brother as well. Still, to say three genins did that well under that kind of pressure is truly a testimony to the kind of ninjas they are growing up to be_.'

Hanako was soon comforting the distressed Aya and Hanabi and to a lesser extent put Masataka, Souichiro and Bob's fears at rest. ' _Gods, I feel like I_ _ **am**_ _turning into some kind of Granny_ ….'

….

 **Hokage Tower**

The next morning Tsunade and Rasa sat down for their formal talks. ' _Now we can get down to business_.' thought Tsunade. ' _No advisors, no bullshit. I want to preserve the Konoha-Suna alliance. I have to convince Kazekage-sama that he is making a mistake siding with Orochimaru in this upcoming conflict_.'

Rasa seated himself and thought, ' _I wonder how much Hokage-sama actually knows. Suna is at a precipice. Which way we turn depends on the outcome of these talks_ …. _With no advisors to say one way or another I can make the decisions that need to be made without interference_.'

"Good morning Kazekage-sama." said Tsunade. "I hope these talks prove to be productive for both our villages."

"As do I Hokage-sama." replied Rasa.

Tsunade thought, ' _Time to make the first move_ ….' "It has been brought to my attention that the Wind Daimyo has been foolishly cutting badly needed funds to Suna. Given we are close allies I feel that one of Konoha's duties is to help out before Suna ends up in a financial bind they can't get out of…."

….

 **Konoha Hospital**

While the two Kages were having their morning conference, Team 11 reported in for their physicals and the medic ninjas on staff were very impressed with the entire team being in good such good physical shape. They all attributed it to Hinata being a combat medic on their team. Hinata was blushing slightly as Naruto and Maya hugged her. "It's all thanks to you Hinata-chan!" said Naruto happily. "You patched us all up more than once."

"Naruto-kun is right." added Maya. "You really saved me after that run in with Shin." ' _Which reminds me I need to talk to Aya-chan about Shin. I also have to dig out the family scrolls about our Great-Grandmother about this wood bloodline. Could Shin have been talking about the mokuton?_ ' wondered the Natsume heiress.

After clearing their physical exams, Yūgao made sure they all got psyche checks scheduled with a Yamanaka and gave them the rest of the day off to themselves. Naruto turned to his two girlfriends and said, "I guess we ought to go down to the ANBU Armory and talk to Taro and Mura. My mesh shirt is shot and we all need newer clothes."

"I guess you are right Naruto-kun." said Hinata glumly. "I'd rather spend money on something more fun though."

Naruto said, "You girl's safety is the most important thing on my mind."

Maya smiled. "I doubt we'll get this torn up on a regular basis anyway."

….

 **Konoha Village, Hotel Guest Quarters**

Gaara was twitching over breakfast….badly. ' _Mother senses something….A fox roaming around that she hates?_ ' "Yes Mother I'll go look." the redhead said aloud.

His siblings looked up from their meals. "What is it Gaara?" asked Kankuro.

"Shut up or I'll kill you." said Gaara in a flat tone. "I have something to investigate." He stood up and started putting his gear on.

Temari said in a reasonable tone, "Baki-sensei told us to stay put Gaara. We shouldn't leave the hotel."

Gaara looked at Temari briefly and said, "Baki can't stop me and the Kazekage is too busy. I can do what I want." The redhead quickly left the room leaving his brother and sister behind.

"What should we do?" asked Kankuro.

Temari answered "Hurry up and get your gear on. We have to follow him before he does something bad for Suna's reputation!"

The two siblings soon took off after their younger brother….

….

 **ANBU Armory**

The genins of Team 11 came marching into the ANBU Armory and saw Taro asleep at his desk. "I guess business is slow today…." said Maya as she rapped on the desk to wake the sleeping weapons master up. "Wake up Taro! We need some gear."

Taro slid an eye open and said, "Well, well; if it isn't Team 11. I heard you guys had quite a trip. What do you all need?"

Naruto said, "I need a new Type Two** ANBU Mesh shirt and both girls need to be outfitted with full Type Two gear."

Taro raised an eyebrow. "I know you want to protect your Teammates Uzumaki but can you afford this? Type Two gear isn't cheap."

Naruto pulled out a credit card and said, "Bill it to the Arashi Seal Company."

Taro's eyes widened as he picked up the card and saw it was legitimate. "….I had no idea….I'll get this approved at the bank while Mura gets you three get outfitted."

….

 **Konoha Village, Hotel Guest Quarters**

After looking about for his wayward charges; Baki picked up a note pinned to his door with a shuriken. It was in Temari's hand writing. ' _Went out against orders at 9:15 A.M.; trailing Gaara_.' was all it said. "Shit!" thought the Suna jonin aloud. "I'd best try to track them down before an international incident occurs. Kazekage-sama will _not_ be happy. It's already 10:30 so who knows _where_ they are by now."

….

 **ANBU Armory**

Naruto, Maya and Hinata left the Armory equipped with new mesh and some new clothes to replace their damaged ones. They were generally in high spirits but couldn't seem to shake the feeling they were being watched. Hinata looked around with her byakugan and said, "I don't see anything out of the ordinary Naruto-kun."

Naruto shrugged. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid. I guess we have been under a lot of pressure lately."

"It's rare you are wrong Naruto-kun." said Maya. "We'll just keep our eyes open."

Naruto's instincts were right. Team 11 had a tail….

….

POSTSCRIPT:

**Type Two mesh gear is heavier gaged and more fire resistant as seen in previous chapters.

Well, a little bit of a cliffhanger there but not too bad. The Kazekage is in conference with Tsunade and Gaara is following _Mother's_ advice to hunt down a certain fox. What are the results of that situation going to be? And will Team 11 ever get a break? Depending on how things go I may put out an additional chapter of **_Curse of the Ryugan_** before changing gears to another story (Hopefully **_Magik_** , **_Trapped Under Ice_** or **_Dragon's Maw_** ). See you next time. Blue out. 7/9/16


	35. Chapter 35

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

Thanks to everyone for their continued reviews and support. This chapter we will finally have Gaara and Naruto meet! Without further ado, here is chapter 35. Enjoy!

Last time:

 ** _ANBU Armory_**

 _Naruto, Maya and Hinata left the Armory equipped with new mesh and some new clothes to replace their damaged ones. They were generally in high spirits but couldn't seem to shake the feeling they were being watched. Hinata looked around with her byakugan and said, "I don't see anything out of the ordinary Naruto-kun."_

 _Naruto shrugged. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid. I guess we have been under a lot of pressure lately."_

 _"_ _It's rare you are wrong Naruto-kun." said Maya. "We'll just keep our eyes open."_

 _Naruto's instincts were right. Team 11 had a tail…._

 **Chapter 35**

 **Fire Country, Konoha**

Team 11 was walking back towards the Natsume Clan home discussing what the three of them should do since they actually had the rest of the day to themselves. "Well, we could go see a movie or something." said Maya. "I also want to spend some time at home. I've missed Aya-chan and we need to catch up."

Hinata smiled. "Well, a fun and _combat free_ afternoon would be great. I've missed Hanabi-chan as well."

"Maybe we should go out to lunch girls." said Naruto. "Does something sound good to you?"

Maya said, "I'm all for ice cream."

"I was thinking cinnamon buns." quipped Hinata. " _It's been ages_." she said drooling.

That's when a red haired boy with dark rings around his eyes showed up and pointed directly at Naruto. "You; what is your name?"

Naruto looked surprised but Maya said, "It's impolite to ask for someone's name without giving your name first."

Kankuro and Temari caught up with Gaara about that time. "There you are Gaara. Let's head back to the hotel." said Temari.

Gaara growled, "I just found what I was looking for." He turned back to Naruto's group and said, "I am Gaara of Suna and these are my teammates Temari and Kankuro."

"So you're Suna ninjas then." said Naruto. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto and my companions are Hyūga Hinata and Natsume Maya." he said motioning to each of his lovely girlfriends. "Why do you seem so excited to know who I am anyway?"

Gaara started twitching back and forth while holding his head and muttering.

"Is he okay?" asked Hinata concerned.

Kankuro shook his head rapidly. " _NO, no he's not okay at all!_ "

"You will prove my existence Uzumaki Naruto!" said the unhinged Gaara with a manic gleam in his eyes. Sand slowly started to leak out of his gourd….

Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "Actually I think you need a theologian or better yet a philosopher for that sort of thing. I'm a ninja. See the headband?"

Kankuro face faulted and Temari said, "Get back! Gaara's unstable right now! Gaara, _control_ your sand!"

Gaara's sand started swirling about him and he said "Mother wants his blood and _Mother WANTS IT NOW!_ "

The blonde seal master appeared in front of Gaara with his brush in hand and a bottle of chakra ink in the other. "Ummm….How about no?" Naruto painted a tiny seal on Gaara's forehead and said, "Fuinjutsu! Chakra disruption!"

All three Sand Siblings stared in shock as Gaara's sand fell to the ground as if all the power that was holding it up was suddenly cut off. Naruto leaned in nose to nose with Gaara and said, "I was working on that little seal for _myself_ but since it worked on you that means you're a jinchuriki and an unstable one at that."

The redhead looked panicked and said in a frightened tone, "I can't hear Mother's voice anymore! What did you do to me?!"

Naruto's electric blue eyes lit up and he asked in a thundering voice, "You can actually **_HEAR_** the bijuu sealed inside of you?!" Gaara nodded fearfully at Naruto's suddenly overwhelming presence. The blonde then said, " _What kind of_ _ **inferior**_ _seal do you have? This is an_ _ **atrocity**_ _! I won't_ _ **stand**_ _for it!_ " The blonde seal master painted a restraining seal on Gaara's forehead above the chakra disruption seal and the redhead was immobilized entirely. Gaara let out an ' _eep!_ ' sound when he found he couldn't move. Naruto snapped his fingers and two shadow clones appeared. Pointing with his brush Naruto said in a commanding voice that his Fuinjutsu Class knew only too well, "Take him to the dojo and we will fix the seal of this poor soul. When I find out who put such an **_inferior seal_** on a fellow container _I will make them_ _ **beg**_ _for mercy_ _ **broken and on their hands and knees!**_ "

….

Back in Suna Elder Chiyo sneezed. "Somebody must be talking about me."

….

 **Back in Konoha** ….

Behind Naruto lightning flashed in the sky and thunder roared. Temari and Kankuro stood there holding onto each other in terror as Naruto and his two clones hauled the motionless Gaara off like a sack of potatoes….

Maya shook her head. "Well, Naruto-kun is in full seal master mode now. Even the gods can't stop him when he's this wound up." she turned to follow Naruto. ' _I guess a fun afternoon is off. Damn it!_ '

Hinata said, "I guess Naruto-kun is going to fix your teammate's seal." _'(Sigh) So much for relaxing….and cinnamon buns_ ….' "Do you two want to come with us or are you staying here?"

"Ummm….actually he's our little brother." said Temari.

"Well, if he's your brother come on then." said Hinata as she waved them on after her.

….

 **Hokage Tower**

Blissfully unaware that his youngest son was being kidnapped, Rasa was discussing the possibilities of joint Suna-Konoha Missions with Tsunade. "If the Wind Daimyo continues to give his business to Konoha then Suna will continue to suffer financially." said Rasa. "You are suggesting that missions within Wind Country should be arranged so that Suna gets half of the pay? That seems awfully liberal Tsunade-sama."

"Considering the missions would be of a joint nature it would serve to strengthen our alliance, yes?" asked Tsunade. "Even if we have courier missions where a Konoha Team delivers things to a Suna Team at the border it would make the Daimyo understand that Suna needs to be involved. Giving missions to foreign countries that take place within the Wind Country Borders is ludicrous. Konoha are your friends but what if he did the same with potential enemies like Iwa? Wind Country's security would be compromised and there is nothing you could do about it. Also, Suna Teams and Konoha Teams working together would build a better rapport between our ninjas. In the last few years since the Kyubi's Attack I feel our alliance has been a bit strained due to isolation even though we are neighbors."

Tsunade continued, "Rasa-sama, this arrangement would also stimulate trade between our countries which would benefit us both economically. Ultimately the goal for Suna would be to bring the Wind Daimyo to his senses and prove to him that the Suna Village needs his support. The goal for Konoha here would be to preserve our alliance and stimulate economic growth for all parties involved. ' _Come on man, I want to avoid being heavy handed and forcing the issue with Orochimaru_.'

' _The Hokage is being_ _ **more**_ _than generous here. This could be Suna's way out!_ ' thought Rasa. ' _The question is why? Are her policies that different from Sarutobi-sama's or is she aware of Orochimaru's plans? The Snake sannin assured me he knew Konoha's policies inside and out but this move is unprecedented_.' "So how do you propose we split mission pay in the case of a multi border crossing Hokage-sama? Say the Wind Daimyo decides he wants to by some object from Hot Water Country for instance…."

Both leaders continued to jockey for better positions in the situation without looking weak. It was a delicate process….

….

 **Path to the Natsume Clan Home**

As Naruto led the group along (his to clones were hauling Gaara along like a prize kill) they ran into Team 10. Shikamaru, Emi and Ino had just finished training for the morning and in a rare show of mercy their sensei Anko gave them the afternoon off since it was Saturday. "Look, it's Naruto-kun and Team 11!" said Emi as she led Ino and Shikamaru over.

Team 10 paused when they saw Naruto's clones hauling along and apparently dead red haired Suna ninja. Shikamaru stared for a moment before he shook his head and said, "Only with Naruto would I see such a sight; how troublesome."

Emi trotted up to the original Naruto and said, "Ummm….Naruto-kun? Is there a particular reason you are hauling a corpse out towards the Natsume home?"

Naruto said, "Hi Emi-chan, Ino, Shikamaru. He isn't a corpse; Gaara has a messed up seal on him and I intend to fix it."

Emi and Ino looked at the statue like Gaara who was wide eyed and whispered, " _Help me!_ " quietly.

Maya, Hinata, Temari and Kankuro came marching up and Kankuro asked, "Is this Naruto guy _really_ that good at seals?"

Hinata nodded. "Naruto-kun is an undisputed master in the arts of fuinjutsu. If there is anyone that can fix your teammate's seal then it is him."

Temari looked astonished before she looked thoughtful and said, "If Naruto can make my little brother sane I'll be eternally grateful. Hell, I'll _marry_ the guy as thanks!"

Maya and Hinata said in an identical dark tone, " ** _I don't think that will be necessary_**."

Ino waved and said, "Hinata-chan, Maya; what's up? Who are your friends?"

Maya shook her head. "These are some Suna ninjas we met a little while ago and Naruto-kun is helping their teammate. He has issues."

Temari cleared her throat, "I'm Temari and this is my brother Kankuro. Naruto is trying to help our youngest brother Gaara with his….seal problem."

Ino smiled brightly. "I'm Ino and this is Emi and Shikamaru is over there. If it's a fuinjutsu problem Naruto-kun can solve anything. He's a genius at that!"

….

 **Hokage Tower**

While Tsunade and Rasa were deep in discussion about their villages and their alliance upstairs; a different form of diplomatic disaster was being dealt with by one _retired_ Sarutobi Hiruzen downstairs. ' _I could be having a nice lunch date with Hanako-chan and_ _ **this**_ _happens. I just know this is some kind of revenge plot by young Yūgao….The fun never ends_ …..' "So jonin Uzuki Yūgao said you should come here and see me since the Fifth Hokage is unavailable Natsuko-san?"

"That is correct Sarutobi-sama." replied the beautiful Nadeshiko kunoichi. "She would not tell me where Uzumaki Naruto-kun lives and said it was classified. As far as I know the Nadeshiko Village is on good terms with Konoha Village and for me to consummate my future relationship with Naruto-kun I at least need to know where he lives!"

Hiruzen fought off the urge to smack himself and said, "Yūgao is quite correct in that we do not reveal the home addresses of our ninjas for security reasons. I'm sure you understand that safety is paramount."

"Yes but he is to be my husband!" said Natsuko in a huff. "A future wife should be able to see her future husband. I can assure you that he won't be in any danger with me. My intentions are only to make him _very happy_." she said in a sultry tone.

"But does genin Uzumaki share in your desire to be with him?" asked Hiruzen reasonably. "It seems to me that he would have invited you to his home if he had those same intentions. You already indicated that he dropped you off at the hotel yesterday with his teammates." '…. _And promptly ran like hell_.'

Natsuko giggled. "Oh come now Sarutobi-sama; Naruto-kun is simply being _shy_. Besides, under the marriage laws of the Nadeshiko Village it is my duty and honor to marry Naruto-kun. Best of all he is the object of my deepest affections."

The elderly Sarutobi shook his head. ' _A headstrong kunoichi in love is a dangerous thing_.' "I'm afraid that Nadeshiko Village laws don't apply here in Konoha, Natsuko-san. I understand your point of view but you must understand ours as well."

The Nadeshiko kunoichi stewed for a moment. Then she said, "Perhaps an agreement could be reached. Would it be possible for me to use your aviary? I would like to contact the Nadeshiko Village Leader Shizuka-sama."

"I see no problem with that." said Hiruzen. "Konoha was planning to contact your village about your _failed mission_ here in Fire Country to begin with. There may be _reparations_ in order and things need to be discussed."

Natsuko was sweating a bit at Hiruzen's Grandfatherly smile when he said _reparations_. "Ah, yes. I'm sure that your Hokage Tsunade-sama and Shizuka-sama can reach an agreement." she said nervously.

" _Wonderful_." said Hiruzen beaming. "I'll set you up with the aviary so you can begin sending messages to Shizuka-sama right away. _Do_ make sure to inform her that you are safely in Konoha custody given your _failed_ mission."

Natsuko gulped and squeaked out, "Of course Sarutobi-sama."

….

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Naruto entered the Natsume dojo and found it was empty. Quickly clearing a spot he had his clones lay Gaara down on his back in the center of the sparring area. He quickly painted a perfect circle around Gaara with various symbols around it that was about fifteen feet across. "No one enters the circle." he said authoritatively. Motioning towards the others he said, "Just sit around the raised mat while I get the proper tools for the job." He turned to his two clones and said, "Strip him to his shorts and hope we don't have to go further. There's a lot of work to do." Everyone's eyes widened as the clones went to work on the panicked Gaara and Naruto went to his Fuinjutsu Study….

….

Temari was less than thrilled that Gaara was stripped to his boxers and even _less_ thrilled that he was wearing the gag gift tanuki head patterned boxer shorts they gave him for his last birthday. She was face palming and Kankuro looked a bit green. ' _I can't believe Gaara actually_ _ **likes**_ _those_ ….' thought the two elder siblings….

About that time Naruto got back and didn't bat an eyelash. He simply sat down and said to Gaara, "I'm going to paint a seal on you that with reveal the seal that contains your bijuu." The blonde then started artistically painting symbols on Gaara's chest. Once the ink dried Naruto quietly said, "Fuin." and all the symbols started to glow and spread across Gaara's body with a life of their own. Gaara was sweating but he was in no pain. Naruto rolled Gaara onto his side and said, "It's on your back between your shoulder blades.** I'm going to turn you fully over onto your stomach so I can examine it." Naruto's two clones quickly turned Gaara over so he was lying flat and Naruto gasped at what he saw.

" ** _A THREE POINT SEAL?!_** " roared Naruto. " _This is insane!_ _What so called seal master made this_ _ **abomination?!**_ This seal is so weak that it's barely enough to hold the weakest bijuu!" He looked over at Kankuro and Temari with fire blazing in his eyes. "Your brother contains the Ichibi Shukaku does he not?"

Kankuro nodded feeling rather frightened of the killing intent Naruto was throwing off. "Y-yes, it's the one tail. How did you know?"

Naruto growled, "It's quite simple my makeup wearing friend. This seal is so pathetic that the one tail is all it _could_ hold. Even the two tail's power would have vaporized this seal and Gaara with it." Kankuro and Temari gasped.

Temari had tears in her eyes, "C-can you fix it?"

"Those are Suna state secrets boy!" bellowed Baki as he entered the dojo in a body flicker. "Free Gaara this instant or I'll-"

Naruto channeled some chakra through his foot into a symbol on the floor and Baki found himself unable to move except for his mouth. Gasping; Baki watched as Naruto pulled the jonin's veil like mask aside like a shower curtain and said, " _You'll_ _ **what;**_ _turban man?_ You just stepped inside **_my_** sealing circle." Before Baki could blink or utter a word Naruto had his brush out and painted a restraining seal on Baki's forehead. Naruto spun his brush around so the blunt end was facing Baki and the blonde pressed it against the seal he placed there. Naruto simply said "Fuin." and tapped Baki backwards and off balance with his brush so the Suna jonin fell outside the circle and landed like a mannequin in a cloud of dust. Naruto turned back around and dusted his hands off. "Now where was I?" grumbled the blond seal master.

Baki was staring at the ceiling wondering what the hell just happened when he heard the dojo door slide open. The jonin heard Hanako-sama's voice say in a wry tone, "Naruto-kun; you _do_ realize that holding an allied ninja prisoner is not the best thing for diplomatic relations." Apparently she heard the noise and Baki lying on the floor helplessly held by a seal was rather amusing to the Hyūga matriarch.

Naruto said, "Bringing an unstable jinchuriki into an allied nation is tantamount to **_war_** then. Ask the turban man about **_that_** little tidbit."

Suddenly Baki found Hanako was standing over him with a byakugan glare so fearsome he nearly wet himself. She said in a tone so imperious that Baki felt _compelled_ to answer any of her questions. " ** _Explain yourself_** _Suna jonin and be quick about it before I see fit to_ _ **erase**_ _you_."

Baki lied weakly, "Actually Gaara is usually quite docile." Baki was soon staring down the blade of a kodachi tickling his Adam's apple.

Hanako loomed over Baki like a spectre. " _Wrong answer_." said Hanako. "The byakugan sees all. Lying to me is **_useless_**. Is your jinchuriki stable or not?"

Baki was fearing for his life by now. "G-Gaara can be violently unstable at times due to an improper seal placed upon him."

Though Hanako was still glaring at Baki she could see everyone in the room with her byakugan. She said in a deceptively calm tone, "Can you fix the boy's seal Naruto-kun?"

Naruto answered, "Yes I can Hanako-sama. I'm already in the process."

"Then please continue Naruto-kun." said Hanako. She then grabbed Baki roughly by the collar and sat him up so he could see what was going on. "You will watch _in silence_ and see what a _true_ seal master can do jonin. Then you will be freed to report this entire incident to the Kazekage." Baki just whimpered in acquiescence. Hanako seated herself to watch and said calmly, "Natsu, we have guests. Please bring them some tea -except for this one." she added motioning to Baki.

….

 **Hayate and Yūgao's Apartment**

Yūgao smiled sexily over at her boyfriend Hayate. Not only had they ravished each other all last night but once she got back from ditching Natsuko this morning she and Hayate were all over each other again. Hayate pulled her close and kissed her. "Mmmm….I've missed you while you were away Yūgao-chan." he said smiling.

"You mean while I was in Tea Country or at the hospital getting a physical Hayate-kun?" asked the purple haired sword mistress.

Hayate grinned. "Both actually. Since we both have the rest of the weekend to ourselves why don't we just stay in bed and play?"

She kissed him sensually and snuggled up where they were face to face on the pillow. "You read my mind lover." she purred happily. "I love you my Hayate-kun."

"And I love you my Neko-chan." he said warmly. The two lovers were quite content to keep one another company and forget any other plans they had….

Right now all Yūgao and Hayate needed was each other….

….

 **Natsume Clan dojo**

For the next hour Baki couldn't help but be amazed at the incredible intricacy of the seal that Naruto was painting on the floor of the dojo and on Gaara. ' _This is like watching an artist crafting a masterpiece, I had doubts about this boy's skill but the best seal masters in Suna don't hold a candle to him. This is awe striking just to witness_.'

Both Maya and Hinata had seen Naruto's work before but still were enjoying the sight of their boyfriend as he practiced his craft. Aya and Hanabi watched in amazement too.

For Shikamaru, Ino and Emi it was breathtaking. They'd seen Naruto make tags of various types before with great skill but this was colossal compared to that.

Temari and Kankuro were both transfixed on the blonde seal master at work and Temari prayed that Gaara would finally be cured of his madness. _'For once please let us be a family_ ….' she thought desperately.

Soon Naruto put the finishing touches on the new seven point seal that would overlay and replace the subpar work of the three point seal that barely kept Shukaku in check. Naruto leaned down so only Gaara could hear him. "This will hurt a bit because the original seal will self destruct and the new seal will take its place. _DO NOT WORRY_. I am the jinchuriki of the nine tails and I know your pain. _I AM WITH YOU_. If you have to cried out or scream I'll think nothing less of you Gaara of Suna….Are you ready now?"

Gaara whispered, "Yes." and closed his eyes.

Naruto nodded, "Alright then, let's do this." He turned to everyone else in the room and said, "The light from the seal will be incredibly bright so you may have to shield your eyes. Here we go." Naruto slashed his palm and drew and Uzumaki sealing spiral on each palm in blood. Then he called out, "Fuinjutstu! Seven Point Seal!" as he slammed his hands into the seal on the floor and the fifteen foot sealing circle blazed to life. Gaara seized up in pain but didn't cry out as the faulty three point seal vaporized for below his skin. Shukaku roared impotently and everyone in the room saw an apparition of the one tail before the seven point seal spun like multiple gears in motion around Shukaku's image and locked it away. Gaara grunted loudly and the completed seal lit up like a star before it vanished into Gaara's skin on his back. Every drop of chakra ink that Naruto painstakingly painted was gone in a flash.

Gaara laid there limply and said, "Did it work?" in a tired tone. That's when he noticed he could move again.

Naruto said, "Gaara, don't move yet. Channel some chakra steadily through your back for me please." Gaara did as asked and Naruto soon saw the fruits of his labor; _a perfect seven point seal_.

The blonde seal master smacked Gaara on the back happily and said, "Success! Sit up Gaara, the seal is working perfectly."

Gaara sat up and was a bit disoriented. The first thing her saw was Temari in front of him cupping his cheeks. Her eyes were full of hope and fear. "Gaara, tell me how you feel! Can you hear Shukaku's voice? Do you feel rage?" Gaara saw Kankuro looking earnestly over Temari's shoulder.

The Suna jinchuriki said, "I don't hear the voice screaming at me anymore. I feel….peaceful."

The redhead was shocked when Temari embraced him and started sobbing her eyes out. "Gaara, I-I love you." For the first time since his Uncle Yashamaru died; Gaara felt a true hug from someone else.

' _This feels….nice_.' thought Gaara as he fell asleep.

At first Temari and Kankuro panicked but then they heard Gaara let out a tiny snore. "He's….sleeping? Won't the Shukaku come out?" whispered Kankuro.

Naruto shook his head. "The poor guy couldn't even sleep? It won't be a problem now. Let's get him to a futon where he can rest."

Kankuro gingerly picked up his brother and carried him to a spare bedroom. ' _Man, he's sleeping like a rock. Gaara must have been exhausted_.' thought the puppet user regretfully. ' _Of course, he hasn't slept in years_.'

….

 **Path from the Natsume Clan Home**

Team 10 headed out after the sealing was complete. Hanako-sama impressed upon them that until the situation was resolved the three of them should consider the fuinjutsu work Naruto had done should be considered an S-class secret. They were quietly discussing what they'd witnessed among themselves. " _Naruto-kun is amazing!_ " gushed Emi. "I knew he could do some incredible stuff with seals but between him healing Yūgao-sensei's boyfriend and what we just saw I think he can do _anything!_ "

"I'm blown away too!" said Ino. "I know Naruto-kun always says ' _You can do anything with seals_ ' but that had to be seen to be believed. I wonder if that's what it looked like when the Fourth Hokage killed the Kyubi. They said he did it with seals….You know, now that I think about it Naruto-kun really looks a lot like the Fourth Hokage." Ino looked up at the Hokage Monument and said, "If you just add whisker marks…."

Shikamaru said, "Well, we already know his Mother was a kage level kunoichi that was descended of a nation of seal masters and was one herself."

"His Mother Kushina-sama was really beautiful too." said Ino.

Emi was surprised. "You've seen what she looks like?"

Ino nodded excitedly. "Yeah, there are a few pictures of her at the shinobi section of the library. She was a classmate of my Mom and Daddy as well as the Fourth Hokage. She had long red hair and was nicknamed ' _The Red Hot Habanero_ ' according to Daddy.

"She had that name because of her looks?" asked Emi. "I'm impressed."

Shikamaru groaned and shook his head. "Troublesome. My Dad said Uzumaki Kushina got that nickname because of her temper. He said she was _scary strong_ and beat up Dad, Choza and Inoichi when they tried to pick on her as kids. I guess someone in the class nicknamed her ' _tomato_ ' because of her red hair and she kicked so many asses that day that she was known as ' _The Red Hot Habanaro'_ after that."

"Maybe that's why Daddy cringed when I brought her up." said Ino thoughtfully.

"I'll ask Uncle Choza and see how he reacts." said Emi with a chuckle.

Shikamaru looked up at the carving of the Fourth Hokage on the monument and thought, _'Naruto's Mother Kushina-sama and the Fourth Hokage both were in the same class and both were renowned as seal masters….It sounds like Naruto's Mother was a hothead like Naruto was when we were little and the way he handled that Suna Jonin so effortlessly was damn scary….Ino's right. Naruto_ _ **does**_ _look just like the Fourth Hokage. It isn't too farfetched really. How troublesome_.'

….

 **Natsume Clan dojo**

Baki stared up at Naruto who dispersed the restriction seal on the Suna jonin at Hanako-sama's command. Naruto glared hard at Baki and said, "How long did Gaara have to suffer?" When Baki looked shameful Naruto asked, "When was the Ichibi sealed within him?"

The Suna Jonin sighed. "Gaara was still in the womb when he was made into a jinchuriki."

Naruto ground his teeth. "Whoever did that to Gaara should rot in every kind of hell imaginable." The blonde turned to Hanako, "Oba-chan, everything is all cleaned up. I'm going to go wash up myself."

Hanako smiled and said, "You did a good thing today Naruto-kun. You handled things with the tact of a charging rhino as usual but I'll fully support your actions. Go ahead and wash up. I'm going to speak with Baki-san for a bit." Naruto nodded, gave Baki a sharp glare and left.

After Naruto left the Hyūga matriarch said, "Uzumaki Naruto has talents that only come every few generations. He hates seeing others suffer. This may turn into an international incident but Naruto-kun saved a soul from torture from what young Temari said."

Baki shook his head. "Gaara was supposed to be our most powerful ninja but now he is neutralized. On the other hand his soul has been freed of Shukaku's torment. I think it's a fair trade Hanako-sama."

Hanako raised an eyebrow. "I have no idea what you mean by _neutralized_ Baki-san. Naruto-kun informed me that Gaara's abilities should be enhanced now that the one tail is no longer influencing him. Young Gaara is far from defenseless."

"Naruto-san had the power to destroy Gaara as a threat forever and you say he just wanted to help him?" asked Baki. "I don't understand."

"Then understand this." said Hanako. "Tell Rasa-sama that Naruto-kun would never want anyone to suffer for being a jinchuriki for _his own_ reasons. Let's leave it at that."

Baki's eyes widened. "Uzumaki is a jinchuriki himself? I-"

"Let's leave it at that." repeated Hanako. "Some subjects are best not discussed."

The Suna jonin nodded. "I understand Hanako-sama."

….

 **Natsume Clan Home, Study**

Once things had settled down, the Natsume sisters went to discuss things privately in the study. Aya said sadly, "So Shin nii-san was there and attacked you for the Reiki….I hoped that someday he would come home sane. I guess it was a pipe dream."

Maya shook her head. "Well, he wasn't trying to kill me but he did beat me up pretty badly. I think in his head he thought I was there to give him the Reiki and when I didn't he felt betrayed. Shin is very, very sick in the head Maya. I'm pretty sure that his Ryugan activating so early in his life drove him to madness. Anyway, he kind of freaked out when the wood from that tree attacked him. He said something about one of our Great Grandmothers having a ' _Power over wood_ ' and I want to look it up in the family scrolls. We can get you the real Ryugan scrolls as well."

As Maya reached over towards the safe in the study Aya said, "Nee-chan, we already searched there. There were only three scrolls and they didn't say much."

"Did you look at the scrolls with your Ryugan activated Aya-chan?" asked Maya. Seeing Aya shake her head Maya chuckled. "Those scrolls have the instructions to get to the real scrolls."

"The instructions can only be read with the ryugan active?" asked Aya with swirls in her eyes.

Maya patted Aya on top of the head. "The Ryugan Scrolls are still in the safe Aya-chan. You and Jiraiya-sama missed the boat." said Maya with a smirk as she opened the safe again. She pointed to the empty bottom shelf of the safe. "Channel your chakra there."

Aya placed her palm on the bottom shelf and sent a pulse of chakra through it. A small seal became visible and a dozen scrolls of great age appeared in a small puff of smoke. Aya did the same with another empty shelf and three small scrolls appeared. Maya then pulled out one that had the kanji for ' _family_ ' written on it she said, "This is the one I need."

Maya skimmed through the generations in the scroll showing her family's genealogy. She read aloud, "Natsume Iyo*** was the creator the Reiki by using her own chakra and is one of our earliest recorded ancestors that we have extensive notes on. Her Mother was Amaterasu Himiko who passed the Ryugan down and her Father was Senju Jinja who was Senju Batsuma's brother and the paternal Uncle of Senju Hashirama, the first Hokage and wielder of the Mokuton! That means we are distant cousins of the Senju Clan Aya!"

Aya was reading over Maya's shoulder and said, "Wow! It also says that all of Jinja and Iyo's children inherited the Ryugan except the youngest daughter Mēpuru who inherited the Mokuton like her cousin Hashirama. Mēpuru was our Great-Great Grandmother and the first guardian of the Reiki after her Mother Iyo passed away and the Mokuton hasn't been seen since and was assumed to have been lost forever."

"Looks like all of Mēpuru's children inherited the ryugan." said Maya. "Usually there is one per generation that doesn't have it and that person traditionally guards the sacred blade."

"Then that means you may have the Mokuton Maya nee-chan!" said Aya with excitement in her voice. "We should talk to Hokage-sama and see if there are some scrolls on the Mokuton she would let you use."

Maya smiled and said, "I never dreamed of having a bloodline other than carrying the Ryugan to pass down. I'm kind of excited! Come on Aya-chan; let's look over the Ryugan scrolls I'm sure there is a beginner one. We should start there."

The Natsume sisters were soon pouring over the Ryugan scrolls to see where to begin….

….

 **Natsume Clan Home, bedroom**

Gaara woke up not really recalling anything past Temari hugging him. He blinked and saw Temari and Kankuro were asleep sitting on a small couch by his futon. Kankuro was snoring softly. It was afternoon because the sun was lower in the sky from what the redhead could see outside the window. ' _I don't hear the voice in my head anymore. My thoughts are very clear. I don't even feel angry. What should I do?_ ' Gaara held up his right index finger and his sand swirled in a funnel pattern before he flattened it into a disk and changed it back again.

"Can you control your sand okay Gaara?" asked Temari.

Gaara turned and saw his siblings were awake. Gaara looked back at his sand and moved it through several complex patterns effortlessly. He said, "Controlling my sand has never been this easy. It follows my will exactly."

Kankuro said, "Well, Uzumaki said it would be much easier now. How about you? I've never seen you so relaxed Gaara. Did you sleep well? You've been out for hours; of course I'm sure you needed it."

"Actually, I feel well." said Gaara. "Without Mother….without Shukaku fighting me for control I feel more….peaceful than I ever remember. I wonder if I can use all my sand techniques."

Temari said, "If you feel like getting up we can test it out. Or if you want you can sleep awhile longer."

"I feel rested." said the redhead. "Let's go outside and see what I can do."

For the first time since before their Mother died; Temari felt like she had a family….

….

POSTSCRIPT:

**As far as I can tell the location, nature and appearance of Shukaku's seal on Gaara hasn't ever been shown in canon so I'm winging it here. All I really know is it isn't very strong.

***Natsume Iyo is an ancestor of the surviving Natsume family in Tenjho Tenge and created the Reiki. The rest of the family history and members are original except for her Mother Amaterasu Himiko which was referenced in the manga.

Well, that's a good stopping point. I was going to add a bit of the now sane(?) Gaara practicing a bit but I'll be putting that in next chapter. Baki seems appeased given the outcome of the situation looks to be positive. How will the Kazekage react to the situation? On other side of town Team 10 seems to be puzzling out Naruto's actual parentage. They already know he's a Prince of Uzu. What will happen if the information about him being the Fourth Hokage's son is let out of the bag? We also have found out the Natsume sisters have a bit of Senju blood in them. Natsuko is going to be contacting Shizuka-sama. Will she finally get to go home to the Nadeshiko Village? See you next time. Blue out. 7/13/16


	36. Chapter 36

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

It's been a long while since I updated this story. Since I finally managed to wrap up the arc in **_Magik_** it's time to change gears again. My home computer is a mess so I have to post from work. Things are still moving awfully slow as a result. Here is chapter 36. Enjoy!

Last time:

 ** _Natsume Clan Home, bedroom_**

 _Gaara woke up not really recalling anything past Temari hugging him. He blinked and saw Temari and Kankuro were asleep sitting on a small couch by his futon. Kankuro was snoring softly. It was afternoon because the sun was lower in the sky from what the redhead could see outside the window. '_ _I don't hear the voice in my head anymore. My thoughts are very clear. I don't even feel angry. What should I do?_ _' Gaara held up his right index finger and his sand swirled in a funnel pattern before he flattened it into a disk and changed it back again._

 _"_ _Can you control your sand okay Gaara?" asked Temari._

 _Gaara turned and saw his siblings were awake. Gaara looked back at his sand and moved it through several complex patterns effortlessly. He said, "Controlling my sand has never been this easy. It follows my will exactly."_

 _Kankuro said, "Well, Uzumaki said it would be much easier now. How about you? I've never seen you so relaxed Gaara. Did you sleep well? You've been out for hours; of course I'm sure you needed it."_

 _"_ _Actually, I feel well." said Gaara. "Without Mother….without Shukaku fighting me for control I feel more….peaceful than I ever remember. I wonder if I can use all my sand techniques."_

 _Temari said, "If you feel like getting up we can test it out. Or if you want you can sleep awhile longer."_

 _"_ _I feel rested." said the redhead. "Let's go outside and see what I can do."_

 _For the first time since before their Mother died; Temari felt like she had a family…._

 **Chapter 36**

 **Fire Country, Konoha, Hotel Guest Quarters**

It was late afternoon and Rasa got out of a long day of negotiations with Tsunade. For the first time in months felt positive about Suna's financial outlook. Tsunade was being more than generous with the economic and trade packages she was offering and the war could be averted if things kept going at their present rate. Though he didn't show it the Kazekage was bordering on ecstatic. Of course; now he had to go back and face his wreck of a family….no doubt dinner would be a somber and tension filled affair as always. Hoping the conflict would be kept at a minimum; he knocked on the door and let himself into his sons' suite only to have his eyeballs nearly pop out of his head.

Gaara was sitting in the lotus position in the floor elevating his siblings in easy chair shaped sand constructs under Baki's supervision. Kankuro was actually _laughing_. "Try making Kankuro's chair recline Gaara. Leave Temari's sitting up. Your concentration so far is excellent." Both chairs reclined at the same time and Gaara frowned.

"It seems dividing my attention between the two is more difficult than I expected." said the redhead.

That was when Temari noticed Rasa standing in the doorway openly gawking in disbelief. She said, "Kazekage-sama is here Gaara. You should set us down now." Everyone in the room turned to the Kazekage who was still staring as Gaara set his siblings down light as a feather. His sand quickly vanished back into its gourd. Temari smiled and said. "We'll continue practicing later Gaara."

Gaara simply nodded. He'd been having fun with his siblings and his Father's arrival kind of ruined his mood. The redhead turned to his Father and said plainly, "I trust you had a productive day Kazekage-sama? I certainly did."

Rasa closed the door behind him and looked at Baki who was sweating profusely. Baki said nervously, "Ehehehe….You wouldn't believe what happened today Kazekage-sama…."

….

Rasa was questioning Baki in a side room. "You are saying that Gaara is not only rid of Shukaku's influence but his control over his sand has improved _exponentially?_ " asked the Kazekage. "More importantly my youngest son is finally _sane?!_ "

"That sums it up in a nutshell Kazekage-sama." said Baki tiredly. The Suna jonin had spent the last forty five minutes explaining that a fuinjutsu master had completely immobilized him and fixed Gaara's seal before his very eyes. Baki also explained that making the seal master angry was a _very_ bad idea and that the boy wanted Elder Chiyo's head on a pike for such shoddy seal work on Gaara.

Rasa face palmed. "This seal master….he just did this out of the good of his heart? I find that difficult to believe. What is his name and what are his _real_ reasons?"

Baki said, "His name is Uzumaki Naruto and he is a jinchuriki himself. I-"

Rasa's eyes widened. "An Uzumaki? They were the greatest fuinjutsu practitioners in history! You say he is Gaara's age?"

The jonin nodded. "He is a genin. He is obviously a prodigy of some sort. I'm not a fuinjutsu expert but his work is far beyond that of our own seal masters."

Rasa went back into the front room where his three children were playing cards together. It was a sight he never thought he'd see. ' _My children….acting like a family_ ….' The Kazekage swallowed the lump in his throat and said, "I hate to interrupt your game kids but I'd like to inspect the new seal on Gaara's back."

The three siblings looked at him for a moment before Gaara emotionlessly took off his shirt and said, "Uzumaki replaced the old one. It's in the same place on my back."

Rasa nodded and said, "Channel some chakra through it for me so I can look at it Gaara." The youngest sibling nodded and the seal became visible to Rasa's amazed eyes. Gaara's Father gasped and then said, "This seal; it is a work of _art_. I have never seen such a complex and perfect seal. Is Shukaku truly gone from your mind?"

"Shukaku can no longer influence me." said Gaara. "I am free of the monster thanks to Uzumaki Naruto. I can even sleep."

Kankuro said, "Uzumaki was _furious_ at the poor quality seal on Gaara's back. If he ever meets Elder Chiyo it will be the end of her. Naruto acted like it was his _duty_ to fix things. We couldn't stop him."

"His calligraphy brush is more powerful than any jutsu I've witnessed." said Temari with admiration in her teal eyes. "He defeated Baki-sensei effortlessly."

' _It looks like I'm never going to live that down_.' thought Baki morosely. "I already explained those things to Kazekage-sama."

"I would like to meet this boy." said Rasa. "If you are truly cured Gaara then I owe this young man my eternal gratitude."

All three siblings raised their eyebrows and Temari asked, "You aren't angry Kazekage-sama?"

Rasa shook his head. "I'm not angry but I am very perplexed as to why this Uzumaki seal master helped you without asking for any form of payment. It is suspicious."

Kankuro blurted out, "Well it's _obvious_ why Uzumaki did it. It was nee-chan's bride-price."

Rasa and Baki's jaws hit the floor. The Kazekage said with wide eyes, " ** _SAAAY WHAAAT?_** " He turned to Baki. " ** _Explain_** _this to me Baki!_ "

"I-I wasn't aware of anything involving a bride-price!" quailed the turban wearing jonin.

"What was said Kankuro?" thundered Rasa.

Kankuro was sweating between Rasa's killing intent and Temari's angry teal eyes flashing at him with a vengeance. "Nee-chan said; _If Naruto can make my little brother sane I'll be eternally grateful. Hell, I'll_ _ **marry**_ _the guy as thanks!_ "

"Why didn't you _stop_ her then Kankuro?" spat out the Kazekage.

"Temari-nee is seventeen and can legally name her own bride-price!" cried Kankuro. "I'm her _younger_ brother, not her _older_ one."

Baki said, "This is the first time you've ever followed Suna law as long as I've known you Kankuro."

"Well, I-" started the war paint wearing nin.

Rasa turned to Gaara and said, "Why didn't _you_ stop your sister Gaara?"

The redhead said flatly, "I was immobilized and being held against my will by Uzumaki Naruto at the time."

Temari and Rasa locked in a silent battle of wills as her angry teal eyes glared into his own dark ones. " ** _I_** am in the right!" she roared.

Rasa blinked and Baki stared in shock as his leader lost the battle. The Kazekage groaned. "Under Suna law you _are_ right Temari….but what possessed you to do such a thing?"

"I wanted my little brother back." said the sandy blonde kunoichi. "I named my bride-price on impulse but I won't go back on my word. I am a proud Suna kunoichi and I have my honor." She looked over at Gaara and said, "Besides, having Gaara sane and as my little brother at last is a fair bride-price in my opinion."

….

 **Natsume Clan Residence**

Naruto sneezed. _'I think someone is talking about me…._ ' He set his calligraphy brushwork down and started cleaning his brush. Going out into the front room he saw Aya and Maya looking over the ryugan scrolls together.

Maya said in a gentle but authoritative tone, "Alright Aya; let's practice activating and deactivating your eyes like Obaa-chan and Hanabi-chan taught you."

"Yes nee-chan." said Aya as her eyes activated and became red slits.

Naruto smiled and said, "Wow Aya-chan; they really do look like dragon's eyes. Cool. Can you see the future or anything yet?"

Maya smiled and said, "Sit down with us Naruto-kun. We're going over the scrolls and I think Aya has mastered turning the chakra on and off to her eyes."

Aya smiled as Naruto sat down and held hands with Maya. With her eyes still active she looked into their near future….

….And blushed atomic red. Aya stuttered and said "Y-you-you two would do **_that_** together? Oh my god! I can't believe this! Nee-chan, I had no idea you planned-"

Maya's smile turned sickly sweet and she growled through gritted teeth, "You can turn your eyes **_off_** now Aya-chan."

Aya deactivated her ryugan and was still blushing when she said, "I think I'm going to go get a drink of water!" and took off like a bat out of hell….

The silver haired girl watched as her younger sister retreated. ' _If she blows my plans with Naruto-kun tonight I'll give Aya a spanking she'll never forget!_ '

Naruto asked, "What was Aya-chan so flustered about?"

Maya smiled happily at Naruto's oblivious nature. "No need to worry about it Naruto-kun." said the silver haired beauty. ' _Tonight you're mine!_ '

While Maya's head was filled with triple x-rated thoughts; Hinata was in the kitchen with Hanabi eating cinnamon buns.

Noticing the look of orgasmic bliss on Hinata's face, Hanabi said, "Gee nee-chan; you must have really missed your cinnamon buns."

Hinata turned to Hanabi and said, "Going to the bakery after Naruto-kun put that new seal on Gaara-san was the best idea I've had since before that atrocious mission. This is heaven."

Devilnata was sitting on Hinata's right shoulder eating her own chibi cinnamon bun. She was wearing a Catholic girl's school uniform that showed _way_ too much leg and cleavage to be decent. "Mmmm….These cinnamon buns are positively _sinful_ …." She muttered blissfully.

Perched on Hinata's left shoulder was Angelnata who was wearing a traditional nun's outfit. She too was stuffing her face with a chibi cinnamon bun. "Oh _fuck_ this is good. It tastes almost as good as Naruto-kun."

' _Mhm_.' thought Hinata. ' _I need to cover Naruto-kun with icing and have him for desert_ ….' All three Hinata's hummed happily together in agreement….

….

 **The Yamanaka Residence**

Ino was sitting with Emi and Sakura looking at the graduation photo of their genin class. Ino held up the picture showing the _ANBU Brats_ with Yugao standing off to one side. "Damn." said the Yamanaka heiress. "We've all been so busy with missions that I haven't had time to look over our class picture. Mama said it was delivered while we were still in Hot Springs Country on a mission."

Looking at the picture of Ino's parents in their class photo in their bright colors and wearing big smiles was a shocking contrast. "Your parents look so happy and young." said Sakura. "We look like a bunch of ANBU standing at attention."

Emi sighed. "All we need is shoulder tattoos and we really would look like ANBU in that picture. I never realized how grim the twelve of us looked before."

"Shame Hinata and Maya couldn't make it." said Ino.

The redhead smiled and said, "It was pretty obvious they were worn out from that Tea Country mission they just got back from. Of course those Suna ninjas kind of took up the spare time they had." Emi turned to Sakura and said, "You should have seen the seal that Naruto-kun made to help that Suna ninja named Gaara. It was incredibly complex and beautiful."

Ino chuckled and said with a smirk, "You missed seeing Naruto-kun take out a Suna jonin in seconds with just seals. It was hilarious seeing that big guy go down."

Emi was chortling. "Naruto-kun called the guy _turban man_ and promptly left the poor guy paralyzed in the dust! Bwahaha!"

Sakura laughed at Emi getting carried away. ' _Shame it's a secret what the seal was for but both of them said S-Class so I won't pry. They're probably telling me too much as it is_.' thought the rosette.

"Well, Maybe we can drop in on Team 11 tomorrow." said Ino. "If we get Yakumo too then maybe all of us kunoichis can hang out together."

….

 **Konoha Aviary**

Natsuko was looking over her message to her cousin Shizuka:

 _Shizuka-sama,_

 _I have found myself in an unusual predicament. As you know our plans for me to eliminate that corrupt High Priest Wataru were in motion and I was travelling with some Konoha ninjas towards the Fire Capital posing as a miko. Unfortunately my identity was discovered by them. Certain parties wish to eliminate me due to some minor indiscretions on my part which caused my identity to be revealed by outside sources. This left my mission scrubbed and me in the hands of Konoha. I later found out Wataru was put to death by Fire Country due to his corruption so the mission ultimately could not be completed regardless._

 _The Hokage's advisor Sarutobi-sama advised me that Konoha may require reparations for us operating covertly within their territory. I am unaware of the specific details and trust that you will handle this with your capable skills. (I really don't want to be incarcerated). So far I am being treated as a visiting foreign kunoichi with all the social and diplomatic niceties involved so for now I am safe._

 _Most importantly I have found a worthy husband! His name is Uzumaki Naruto and he saved me from a terrible death or worse. Unfortunately he is shy and seems confused as to his role in the matter. Sarutobi-sama informed me that Naruto-kun isn't required to marry me due to Konoha Village laws but I must beg to differ. Naruto-kun is a powerful ninja though his rank does not reflect it. He is also a seal master and could help the Nadeshiko Village immensely. I hope you are willing to help me negotiate it so he will become my husband per our laws._

 _Your humble servant,_

 _Natsuko_

"Ugggh. I hate writing so formally to Shizuka-chan. She's more like a little sister to me than our exalted leader." thought the Nadeshiko kunoichi under her breath. She took the sealed message to the chunin at the Avairy and said, "This diplomatic message is for Shizuka-sama of the Nadeshiko Village. I trust there will be no problem having it delivered there?"

"The chunin nodded. "It will take about three days but there should be no problems. Water Country is some distance from Fire Country."

"I'll leave it in your hands then." said Natsuko.

….

 **The Nara Ranch**

Shikamaru was sitting and playing shogi with his Father Shikaku as their Akimichi friends Choji and Choza watched. Shikamaru made a move that caused Shikaku to pause and think. "So Dad….about the troublesome Prince of Uzu…." said Shikamaru.

"Hmmm? He and his whole team are the most troublesome genins in the history of Konoha." said Shikaku. Then he added, "Yūgao has created a bunch of monsters."

Choza chuckled. "The most troublesome group of genins in the history of Konoha? I thought that was our team, Ino-Shika-Cho."

"So did I." said Shikaku. "But in their first mission Team 11 razed a town to the ground and fought an S class missing nin. They had the highest body count I've ever heard of for a C-ranked mission."

Choji stopped eating his chips and said, "Are they alright?"

"I saw them earlier today." said Shikamaru. "They are a bit tired but seem just fine."

"Ah, that's good." said Choji as he resumed eating. "We might have to drop in and check on them tomorrow."

"That's a good idea Choji." said Choza with approval in his tone. "What brought up Naruto to begin with Shikamaru?" asked the Akimichi Patriarch.

Shikamaru was in his ' _thinking pose_.' "I'm 80% convinced that Naruto's Mother Kushina-sama taught our Fourth Hokage everything he knew about sealing and that Namikaze Minato is in fact Naruto's Father." He opened his eyes to lock with Shikaku's and asked, "Am I correct?"

Choza's jaw dropped. Choji stared with wide eyes. Shikaku said, "Troublesome. You shouldn't throw S Class secrets around so casually Shikamaru." His son's eyes lit up and Shikaku sighed. "Yes, Namikaze Minato was Kushina-sama's husband. Naruto is their one and only child. You and Choji are sworn to secrecy."

Choji asked, "Does Naruto know? He always just said he was an orphan until he found out he was a Prince."

Shikaku nodded. "The Third Hokage explained everything to him recently."

"Troublesome." said Shikamaru. "Every time I think I have Naruto figured out he pulls something crazy like this."

"That really is _beyond_ just troublesome Shika." said Choji. "I nearly lost my appetite there for a minute."

Choza looked shocked and handed his son an extra bag of chips. "Can't have you losing weight now can we?"

Shikamaru and Shikaku just sweat dropped at their pleasingly plump friends….

….

 **Natsume Clan Residence**

After dinner Maya and Hinata scurried off to Hinata's room and talked behind the silencing seal for a few moments before they exited giggling to themselves.

 _Maya's room_ ….

Maya immediately went to take a clean herself up and the silver haired beauty was soon showering. After thoroughly cleansing herself Maya stood naked in front of her mirror and admired herself. ' _Almost all the cuts and bruises from Shin nii-san are completely gone_.' She looked down at her womanhood and then cast the birth control jutsu taught to her by Hanako Obaa-chan. "Tonight I'll have my Naruto-kun at last. Tomorrow is Hinata-chan's turn." She slipped on a filmy see through yukata with lacy silver panties and a matching bra underneath. Focusing for a moment she exhaled to calm herself and waited for Naruto to arrive.

 _Naruto's room_ ….

The blonde ninja heard a knock on his door and opened it only to find Hinata there in her sleeping yukata. She had a sultry smile on and said "Na-ru-to-kun; will you make a clone for me to snuggle with tonight? Why don't you go sleep with Maya-chan tonight and make her feel better? I know she must be hurting emotionally from that run in with Shin."

The Byakugan Princess kissed him with such passion that Naruto felt his toes curl. Regaining his breath, Naruto pulled Hinata close and returned her fevered kiss. He whispered, "Hinata-chan, do you want to…?"

She smiled eagerly and said, "Go to Maya-chan tonight. I'll give you _everything_ tomorrow."

Naruto made a clone and Hinata smiled. "I'll see you in the morning Naruto-kun." She took the clone back to her room for some privacy leaving the original Naruto gawking at the sensual sway in his byakugan hime's hips….

….

Now Naruto was sweating heavily and his lust filled mind was full of thoughts of both Maya _and_ Hinata. He said under his breath, "Hinata-chan you she-devil, you did that intentionally. Maya-chan is waiting for me." Barely controlling his urge to run flat out down the hall to Maya's room; Naruto went a gently knocked on Maya's door.

Maya cracked the door open and her blue eyes sparkled when she saw Naruto there looking at her with flames dancing in his eyes. "Come in Naruto-kun…." she beckoned. After he entered she quickly closed the door behind Naruto and activated the silencing seals. She turned the lights off and admired her lover in the twilight. She saw the desire dancing in his eyes and it gave her a thrill. Maya then pulled Naruto in for a fevered kiss and said in a heated tone, "I've waited too long. Tonight you are mine and I am yours lover."

The silver haired beauty held out her hand and led him to the bed where she promised paradise. Naruto wrapped his arms around her from behind and started feeling all of her charms. Maya moaned as his mouth teased her neck delicately. She turned around smiled invitingly as he opened her filmy yukata and started kissing up and down her neck and bosom. Naruto's hands danced all over her voluptuous body. Naruto licked her from her navel up through the valley of her breasts and finally up her chin. He then planted a searing kiss on her mouth as he unclasped her bra. Naruto started suckling on her amazing breasts in turn as he continued to stroke and caress her body all the while.

Her hands weren't idle either as she reached into his boxers and stroked his hardened manhood. She started kissing his neck and shoulder as she removed his sleeping yukata. She gripped his solid rear with her hands as she ground her womanhood against his member. Before long the two stripped each other's clothes off in a frenzy of passion and the pair were on the bed in the 69 position with Maya on top. Naruto was feasting on his silver haired princess as she gave him an incredible fellatio and she tasted him with her silky tongue. " _Oh gods!_ " whispered/screamed Naruto as he erupted in his lover's mouth. She smiled as she swallowed her lover's essence.

Maya arched her back as Naruto's tongue increased the pace. Maya ground herself into Naruto's mouth and did her best to ride his tongue as she panted and moaned. The silver haired beauty joined Naruto in climax seconds later. The blonde rolled over on top of Maya and admired her beautiful body. Her lust filled eyes beckoned him forward. He stroked his still quivering mate with his thumb as she smiled at him savagely. "I'm ready Naruto-kun." she said as she braced herself for his entry. Naruto nodded as he placed his throbbing member at her soaked entrance. He entered her tightness slowly and Maya locked her legs around him forcing Naruto to thrust himself in to the hilt causing her to scream. She panted and said hungrily, "N-now Naruto-kun! _Make me_ _scream all night!_ "

Naruto's last coherent thoughts were, ' _My wild child;_ _ **she's on fire**_ _…._ '

….

….It was hours later that the two lovers had completely exhausted each other. Naruto found that Maya liked it _rough_ and _wild_. They tried several different positions and Naruto couldn't decide which one he liked best. ' _She's an animal_ ….' thought the blonde happily. Naruto was lying on his back feeling Maya lying on top of him sleeping peacefully. He was soaked in sweat and his heartbeat and breathing had finally leveled out. The blonde was amazed at how soft and smooth Maya's skin was in spite of her firm and strong body. Despite the fact his brain was mush; Naruto was elated and exhausted all at the same time. He whispered, "I love you Maya-chan…."

Maya answered in her sleep, " _Mmmm….I'm ready for the next go 'round Naruto-kun…._ " Naruto promptly passed out in shock and exhaustion….

….

 **Hotel Guest Quarters**

Rasa got up the next morning and found his three children were sleeping peacefully in their suites….including Gaara. "It's a crazy world." thought the Kazekage aloud. He went out into the kitchenette and found Baki checking over his weapons.

The jonin looked up and said, "Good morning Kazekage-sama. It seems so strange seeing Gaara sleeping peacefully."

"Indeed it does." said Rasa. "After all these years perhaps the nightmare is over. Maybe I can reconcile with my children after all this time."

"Do you want to see Uzumaki Naruto today?" asked Baki. "His home is on the edge of the village. He lives with the Village Elder Hanako-sama."

"I have morning talks with the Hokage so perhaps this afternoon after lunch." said Rasa. "See about making arrangements Baki. I'm sure Hahako-sama will respect my wishes to meet her charge."

"I'll get it arranged this morning." said the jonin. "What about your children Kazekage-sama? Do you want them present?"

"Considering it is a social call as well as business I suppose it would be appropriate to bring them along." thought the Kazekage aloud. "Besides, both Gaara and Temari _are_ directly involved. I can't believe my daughter is of the age to get married. It makes me feel old."

Baki chuckled. "It does seem like yesterday she was a little girl under my training. She's grown into a fine kunoichi Kazekage-sama. You should be proud."

"I am proud." said Rasa. "She's grown to be as beautiful as her Mother as well as a strong ninja….I just hate to see her grow up so soon."

So absorbed in their conversation the two men didn't notice that Temari was listening to their conversation through her cracked bedroom door. ' _The Kazekage….he's proud of me? He thinks I'm beautiful like Kaa-chan was? I had no idea_ ….'

While Rasa and Baki continued to talk, Temari silently slipped her door shut and got dressed for the day….

….

 **Natsume Clan Residence**

Naruto woke up to a warm, passionate kiss from Maya. When she pulled back her blue eyes were glowing with happiness and contentment. "Good morning Naruto-kun. I love you." said the silver haired beauty with a warm smile.

The blonde smiled back and said, "I love you too Maya-chan." he cupped her cheek. "Did you sleep well?"

Maya leaned her cheek into his hand and said, "I slept wonderfully. Last night was amazing. You make me so happy Naruto-kun."

Naruto said happily. " _You_ are amazing my Maya-chan."

The two laid in bed for awhile talking and cuddling before they finally got up for the day an hour later….

….

 **Hokage Tower**

Rasa arrived just after breakfast and he and Tsunade exchanged formal greetings before they sat down to work again. They had already agreed to a half day and planned to have lunch together before they each went to consult their respective advisors on things. Rasa was currently looking over the maps of their territories and his eyes drifted up to the Land of Rice and Oto Village.

Tsunade said, "Thinking about Orochimaru, Kazekage-sama? He seems to be planning to make war on Konoha during the Chunin Exams in a few months."

Rasa gasped slightly and said, "That is unfortunate news."

"Konoha will be ready." said Tsunade. "Rest assured that even if Orochimaru _doubles_ his forces they will be no match for us."

Rasa sat for a pregnant moment and came to a decision. After a few moments of silence he said, "You knew about Orochimaru trying to get Suna in the war all along didn't you?"

Tsunade nodded. "I felt it would be best to solve this through peaceful means. We have been allies for a long time Kazekage-sama. I would like to think we will have your support against that traitorous snake instead of joining him."

Rasa nodded. "Suna wants no part of this war. I was desperate to get out of this financial crises and Orochimaru gave us an opportunity that was hard to pass up. With Konoha's help I believe we can overcome our difficulties without taking that potentially fatal course. Hokage-sama, as the Kazekage of Suna I would like to reaffirm our alliance right now." ' _To hell with talking to my advisors. This is the right path to take_.'

Tsunade said, "You do not know how glad I am to hear those words from you Kazekage-sama. Konoha also reaffirms the long standing Konoha-Suna Alliance. ' _Thank the gods. There is a lot of work to do but I believe we can make it happen._ '

The two leaders shook hands and just like that; Suna changed its course from war to peace….

….

 **Natsume Clan Residence, Study**

Hanako was having tea in the study with the Suna Jonin, Baki. "So Kazekage-sama wants to meet Naruto-kun this afternoon? That is most interesting."

Baki nodded. "Kazekage-sama wishes to speak with Uzumaki-san and possibly set up an alternative payment than the previously agreed one. –Not that the current one isn't legally binding of course." The jonin added hastily.

The Hyūga Matriarch raised a delicate eyebrow. "What form of payment are we talking about Baki-san? Nothing was ever mentioned to me."

Looking wide eyed Baki said, "Ummm, the Kazekage's daughter Temari-sama named her bride-price as curing Gaara of his madness due to Shukaku's influence. Under Suna law they she is practically betrothed to Naruto-san."

Hanako asked, "Is Naruto-kun even aware of this? He would have told me if he was engaged." ' _Not to mention Hinata-chan and Maya-chan would have chased her off with extreme prejudice_.'

Baki said dumbfounded, "Why else would he have fixed Gaara's seal then?"

"You don't understand Naruto-kun's mindset at all Baki-san." said Hanako. "He is a **_seal master_** , an artist. Seeing another soul tormented from such shoddy seal work had Naruto-kun so affronted that he _had_ to fix it. Naruto-kun couldn't bear to see another container suffering from such an abomination of a seal. It goes against his principles. I doubt he would even ask for payment in return….Although whoever did the original seal on Gaara-san had best head for the hills if Naruto-kun ever finds them."

Face palming, the turban wearing jonin said, " ** _Never_** _piss off an Uzumaki_ …."

Hanako smiled and said, "That was the phrase I believe. At any rate, I can call Naruto-kun in here if you wish to discuss this matter of a bride-price. I personally doubt he is even aware of the situation."

"It would be for the best." said Baki. ' _If he doesn't know and understand the situation with the bride-price things could get very confusing –not to mention embarrassing_.'

….

Natsu arrived with Naruto a few moments later and knocked on the door to the study. "Hanako-sama, I've brought Naruto-san as you asked."

"Ah, excellent." replied Hanako. "Send Naruto-kun in please."

Naruto came in and said, "How can I help Hanako-sama?" Humor was glittering in his blue eyes. ' _Maybe she wants me to seal turban man again. Eh, what was his actual name? I can't remember_.'

Hanako said, "Come join us Naruto-kun. Baki-san is here regarding payment for your fuinjutsu work yesterday."

Naruto sat down and was given some tea by Hanako. After he thanked her; the blonde said, "So what's this about payment Baki-san? I never asked for any."

Baki explained, "Kazekage-sama's daughter Temari-sama gave her bride-price as fixing Gaara's seal so he will be sane again. She is to be your wife under Suna Laws."

" ** _SAAAY WHAAAT?_** " asked Naruto in shock. " ** _Explain_** _this to me Baki!_ "

With a terrible sense of déjà vu Baki began to explain things once again….

….

 **Front Room**

Natsu answered the front door and found the four other ANBU Brat kunoichis were all there to see Maya and Hinata. Emi said, "Hello, Natsu-san. Are Maya-chan and Hinata-chan at home? For all that matter, is Naruto-kun here?"

The Hyūga maid was a bit surprised at a bunch of black wearing kunoichis showing up out of the blue but then she realized that they were all Hinata-sama and Maya-sama's classmates. She'd met Emi and Ino yesterday anyway. "Ah, Hinata-sama and Maya-sama are in the dojo but Naruto-san is currently in a meeting and is unavailable. Would you four like to go to the dojo? I'm afraid I don't know all of your names, I'm Hyūga Natsu."

"Ah, my name is Kurama Yakumo." said the soft spoken girl. "I hope we aren't imposing."

"I'm Isuzu Emi." said the redhead. "It's a shame Naruto-kun isn't available."

Ino flipped her ponytail back. "This is supposed to be an all kunoichi thing anyway Emi." Turning to Natsu she said, "I'm Yamanaka Ino, we just met yesterday Natsu-san."

Sakura said, "My name is Haruno Sakura, Natsu-san. We met in passing a few months back while we were in training."

….

 **The Dojo**

Hinata and Maya were disobeying their sensei and full contact sparring. Hinata had her Hakutsume Blades out and had an ice cold smile on her face. Maya had out the Reiki and was smiling savagely with a wild look in her eyes. Sparks were flying as Hinata artfully blocked the nodachi with her two kodachis. The flash off the sparking blades was intense as both young women clashed again and again in a battle for dominance. When Natsu opened the door the two girls were in the heat of the action. Hinata was airborne and Maya was standing on the water blocking. They both spun into the ready position and froze.

"Excellent." said Hanako's shadow clone who was supervising the spar. "Both of you maintained your guards perfectly but realized we had visitors and stopped. Your situational awareness is improving by leaps and bounds. The spar is over. Well done."

The two girls bowed to each other and said, "Thank you for the spar." and promptly sheathed their weapons.

Maya looked up at her fellow ANBU Brat kunoichis and said, "I wasn't expecting company today; welcome everybody. Come on in."

The girls were soon introduced to Hanako and she quietly excused herself so the younger kunoichis could sit and talk together.

"You guys were really going at it with those swords." said Ino. "I thought you two were supposed to be relaxing after that mission from hell you mentioned."

"We needed to blow off some steam." said Hinata. "Besides, what Yūgao-sensei doesn't know won't hurt her."

" _And what if I_ _ **do**_ _know?_ " asked Yūgao imperiously from behind them.

" _EEEEEP! Yūgao-sensei!_ " shrieked Hinata. Maya wasn't doing much better. The two young women held on to each other for dear life.

That's when Maya noticed a detail. "Hey sensei; that's your old sword that was destroyed!"

Yakumo started giggling and dispelled her genjutsu. "Sorry but it was too good to pass up."

All the other kunoichis burst into giggles at the shocked looks on Maya and Hinata's faces. Finally the laughter died down and Maya was explaining the sword situation. "Yūgao-sensei got in a duel with my nuke nin nii-san Shin. He had a special katana that can shatter other swords through vibration. Shin later dropped the katana due to injuries and retreated so I gave the Sword Breaker blade to sensei as a war prize. It's similar to her old blade in length and weight but it looks quite different since it and its shealth are covered in engravings."

"This Shin sounds dangerous if he can go toe to toe with Yūgao-sensei in a sword duel." said Emi. "What rank is he considered?"

"He's considered S-Class." answered Maya. "He was toying with me and I was going all out. We made it out alive but barely."

"How did your team drive off an S-Class nin?" asked Sakura.

Maya sighed. "Shin nii-san is emotionally unstable. He wants the Reiki and when I wouldn't willingly give it to him he just lost the will to fight. He's dangerous and unpredictable. I was defeated and he just called a retreat and left. Our team is still recovering from that so we are practicing hard in our time off."

Ino said wide eyed, "It might be better if you guys really _do_ relax then. We came over to invite you guys to an all kunoichi lunch. It hasn't been decided yet but we were thinking Yakiniku Q."

"Mmmm….That might be a nice change of pace Maya-chan." said Hinata.

Maya-nodded. "I'll clear it with Hanako Obaa-chan and then we can go."

….

The kunoichis headed out about twenty minutes later and Natsu wished them a good time. Natsu also noticed that all of the ANBU Brat kunoichis seemed to be armed for Armageddon even in their downtime. ' _I hope the pack in black doesn't scare off the other diners_.' thought Natsu distressed.

….

"….So anyway I thought the emblem on our shoulder tattoos for the ANBU Brats should be a steel gauntlet gripping a lightning bolt…." said Emi.

"Gods Emi; that sounds like something the _guys_ would come up with!" replied Ino as the girls all laughed….

….

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, this chapter was a bit of catch up for me. There are a lot of plot points to cover and this chapter hit a major one; the Konoha-Suna Alliance is intact. The question is how they are going to handle the problem of Orochimaru. Naruto and his girlfriends are taking the next step in their relationship(s). Poor Baki is caught in the middle again with a possible betrothal that the prospective groom wasn't even aware of. He never seems to get a break. In the next chapter we'll have more interactions with the Sand Siblings and Rasa will confront (?) Naruto in order to save the virtue of his beloved daughter. See you next time. Blue out. 1/28/17


	37. Chapter 37

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

Updates continue to be slow due to computer and DSL issues. Once again I am posting from work. Here is chapter 37. Enjoy!

[ ] signifies hand signs

Last time:

 _"…_ _.Shin sounds dangerous if he can go toe to toe with Yūgao-sensei in a sword duel." said Emi. "What rank is he considered?"_

 _"_ _He's S-Class." answered Maya. "He was toying with me and I was going all out. We made it out alive but barely."_

 _"_ _How did your team drive off an S-Class nin?" asked Sakura._

 _Maya sighed. "Shin nii-san is emotionally unstable. He wants the Reiki and when I wouldn't willingly give it to him he just lost the will to fight. He's dangerous and unpredictable. I was defeated and he just called a retreat and left. Our team is still recovering from that so we are practicing hard in our time off."_

 _Ino said wide eyed, "It might be better if you guys really do relax then. We came over to invite you guys to an all kunoichi lunch. It hasn't been decided yet but we were thinking Yakiniku Q."_

 _"_ _Mmmm….That might be a nice change of pace Maya-chan." said Hinata._

 _Maya-nodded. "I'll clear it with Hanako Obaa-chan and then we can go."_

 _…_ _._

 _The kunoichis headed out about twenty minutes later and Natsu wished them a good time. Natsu also noticed that all of the ANBU Brat kunoichis seemed to be armed for Armageddon even in their downtime. '_ _I hope the pack in black doesn't scare off the other diners_ _.' thought Natsu distressed._

 _…_ _._

 _"…_ _.So anyway I thought our shoulder tattoos for the ANBU Brats should be a steel gauntlet gripping a lightning bolt…." said Emi._

 _"_ _Gods Emi; that sounds like something the_ _guys_ _would come up with!" replied Ino as the girls all laughed…._

 **Chapter 37**

 **Fire Country, Konoha, Natsume Residence**

"Tell me you are kidding." said Naruto to Baki after the latter's explanation.

Baki shook his head. "Temari gave her bride-price and you fulfilled the requirements. She is lawfully and honor bound to be your wife as a result. There are many in Wind Country that would give their left arm to be in your position. As the Kazekage's eldest daughter she's practically Royalty in Suna you know."

"That's great but I'm already engaged." said Naruto in flat tone.

" _What?!_ Temari _is not_ going to be happy." said Baki with shiver. "She has a terrible temper and might try to scare off whoever you are engaged to."

"Both of my future wives are powerful kunoichis; they wouldn't be intimidated by her so easily." growled Naruto.

The Suna Jonin's eyes widened, "You mean you have more than one fiancé?!"

Hanako explained, "Naruto-kun is Royalty himself. He has to take multiple wives to rebuild his clan. I could be wrong but I doubt young Temari-san would wish to share a husband."

' _Gods help me. What are the odds?_ ' thought Baki. ' _Temari is going to have a fit and I have absolutely no idea how Rasa-sama will react_.' "I will discuss this matter with both Temari and Rasa-sama before we come over this afternoon to discuss matters in full. Is three o'clock acceptable to you?"

Hanako nodded and said, "That will be fine."

Naruto said, "I'll be here." ' _That gives me five hours to leave town if necessary_.'

….

 **Yakiniku Q**

Six heavily armed kunoichis wearing black descended on the unsuspecting restaurant of Yakiniku Q. Their goal: an early lunch!

"Table for six please." said Ino to the slightly intimidated waitress.

The waitress replied, "Oh, um, yes! This way please." ' _It's not normal for a group of ANBU to show up here. I wonder what's going on. Is it some sort of inspection?_ '

The girls were soon seated and were discussing what to drink. "Well, we could have sake." said Ino. "Old enough to kill, old enough to fuck, old enough to drink as Anko-sensei likes to say."

"Watch your language Ino-chan!" whispered Sakura loudly. "There are kids in the restaurant!"

"I think sake might be a bad idea." said Yakumo. "It would look bad if we all got wasted in public. –Not to mention Kurenai sensei wouldn't be too thrilled."

Maya laughed. "Let's just stick with tea then. It's cheaper anyway. Besides, Hanako Obaa-chan would have our hides if we came home drunk."

Emi waved an index finger and said, "Yes, we must comport ourselves as sophisticated young debutants; not ruthless kunoichis."

Ino chuckled, "Yes, the lot of us are sweet and innocent." She said with stars in her eyes.

The girls were all laughing and carrying on as the food arrived and enjoyed themselves immensely….and everyone else in the place was a bit afraid of the much rumored _ANBU Brats_ ….

….

 **Natsume Residence**

After Baki departed; Naruto was pleasantly surprised when Tawara Bushichi arrived at his door. "Bunshichi-sensei! It's good to see you." said Naruto in greeting to his part time taijutsu teacher.

"It's been a while." said Bunshichi. "I heard you had a rough mission. I guess you ran into my old buddy Shin huh?"

Naruto looked surprised and led Bunshichi back into the house. "I had no idea you knew Natsume Shin." said the blonde. "He's on a whole different level."

The perpetually unshaven man nodded and said, "Shin was my best friend but that accursed ryugan eye drove him insane."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Then Aya-chan…."

"I don't think you need to worry about Aya-chan, Naruto." assured Tawara. "She's old enough to control it; Shin wasn't. Isn't Aya-chan in her teens?"

"Aya-chan just turned thirteen a couple of weeks ago." said Naruto.

Bunshichi nodded. "That's about right for an early bloomer. Shin was _five_ years old when his ryugan activated. Talking to the dead; seeing possible futures; pschometry….It was all too much for a five year old kid to handle. Shortly after I left for my deep cover mission in Kiri Shin snapped. I didn't hear about it until I got back. His parents were great folks. It broke my heart finding out what he did. Now my best friend is like a rabid dog that needs to be put down."

"He beat up Maya-chan pretty badly." said Naruto. "She said he wanted the Reiki and when she wouldn't give it to him that Shin called for a retreat."

"How is Maya?" asked Bunshichi.

Naruto's eyes got dreamy. He said in a faraway voice, "She's dynamite…." Then the blonde blushed madly and choked out, "I mean; Maya-chan seems to be coping well."

Tawara burst into laughter. "So you finally punched that ticket eh? Good for you! I'm proud of you my apprentice!"

Naruto punched his teacher in the side and said, "Not so loud you idiot!"

The jonin grabbed Naruto in a headlock and messed with his hair. "You worry too much. It isn't like you aren't old enough. By the way; nice punch." He released Naruto and pulled out the Whirlpool taijutsu book. "I've been studying this thing in detail. When I'm done with you you're going to be a _wrecking machine_. We need to go out back to that little lake to practice on the water. Some of these techniques are absolutely _devastating_."

"That good huh?" said Naruto with a toothy grin. "Sounds like fun."

….

An hour later both Bunshichi and Naruto were drenched with sweat and water in their swim trunks. Tawara threw his apprentice hard enough into the water that it looked like a meteor impact when Naruto hit leaving a geyser of water. Naruto surfaced and said, " _Awesome!_ If I'd hit the ground it would have cratered!" The blonde was laughing.

Bunshichi nodded. "Alright; now you try it with me." Naruto grabbed the jonin's extended arm and completely lifted Bunshichi off the surface of the water only to repeat his master's move in a spectacular spray of water. "Not bad." said Bunshichi in approval. "Seems you've got it down. Let's try incorporating these moves in a regular spar."

Soon Naruto and Bunshichi were hard at it. Water was flying everywhere as they hit each other with thunderous blows, throws and kicks….

….And watching all of this on a nearby hill through a pair of binoculars was Temari. The sandy blonde haired kunoichi had come to see if she could do some reconnaissance her potentially betrothed only to get a real show. ' _This is a feast for the eyes….What is he made of to take hits like that?_ _ **Damn**_ _he looks fine_.' she thought hungrily. ' _Here I was afraid he'd be a pushover without that fuinjutsu brush. I think I'll just sit back and admire the eye candy_ ….' Temari lounged back lazily in her sitting position to soak up the details.

Escorting Temari were the Suna chunins Michiko and Haruna (actually they invited themselves along when they saw Temari was free). Michiko was lying on her stomach with a pair of binoculars and Haruna was sitting up at attention with her own pair of binoculars. Haruna said, "Oh my! I'm so glad I tagged along Temari-sama. I had no idea you had such good taste. They both look good enough to eat."

Michiko hummed in agreement. "Well, if Temari-sama has dibs on the blonde I'll take the hunk he's sparring with. We should go down and introduce ourselves."

Temari hissed, "This is a reconnaissance mission! I don't want Naruto to know I'm observing him. I wasn't expecting to see him shirtless."

Haruna said with a slight nosebleed, "Maybe they'll go to the hot springs next. I really want to check out the full package. If Temari-sama decides she doesn't want the blonde I'd take him in a heartbeat."

"Mmmm….look at all that lean, mean muscle ripple." said Michiko with a tone of lust. "I can only imagine what fun I could have with that…."

….

Totally oblivious to the fact they were both prominently on display; Naruto landed a brutal kick to his sensei that sent the man skipping across the water and onto dry land. Bunshichi coughed and said, "This spar is yours Naruto. Let's take a break." The two men sat down to dry off and cool down by the small lake….

….

 **Hotel Guest Quarters**

Baki got back only to find Kankuro working on his puppets while Gaara was focusing on manipulating his sand into numbers and letters to improve his control. The turban wearing jonin was dreading the fact he was going to have to inform Temari that her 'betrothed' already had multiple fiancés. Looking around he asked, "Where is Temari?" ' _Of all the times for the girl to disappear on me_ ….'

Kankuro looked up from his work and said, "Nee-chan said she was going out for a walk about an hour ago. She said she'd be back in time for lunch."

"She didn't indicate where she was headed off to at all?" asked Baki.

"She just said she wanted to take in the sights." said Gaara. "Maybe she's in the shopping district."

"I guess I'll just have to wait for her return." said Baki miserably. ' _For all that matter I have to wonder how Rasa-sama will react. He could be overjoyed or furious. There is no telling_.' "Why me…?" the Suna jonin asked rhetorically.

….

 **Amaguriama Sweets Shop**

Temari and her two companions decided to have a treat before they returned to the hotel….

"So he's got brains, muscle _and_ looks?" said Michiko with a giggle. "You certainly aim for the jewel in the Daimyo's Crown Temari-sama. Shame they went inside."

Haruna nodded. "Can you blame her? If he cured Gaara-sama through seals then that means he's way more skilled than the Honored Siblings. You go Temari-sama!"

Temari blushed. "Not so loud!" she whispered. "I don't want rumors flying around until things are settled into place."

Michiko nodded conspiratorially and said, "Still, you've got excellent taste. Airi-san told me your Naruto-san defeated Baki-san; is it true?"

The sandy haired kunoichi frowned. "Airi's a jonin. She should know better than to leak such information."

Smiling, Haruna giggled and whispered, "Then he actually _did_ defeat Baki? You can tell us Temari-sama. _Please?_ "

Temari pondered for a moment and then chuckled evilly. "Naruto had Baki-sensei completely at his mercy and paralyzed him with a seal. He called sensei _turban man_ and knocked him down like a practice dummy."

" _Turban man?_ " asked Michiko with a snort. Seeing Temari nod Michiko said, "That's hilarious. Does Baki hate him now?"

"Actually Baki-sensei is a little afraid of Naruto." explained Temari. "I really don't blame him though. Naruto's fuinjutsu skills are beyond belief."

….

Yūhi Kurenai and Mitarashi Anko were listening to the Suna kunoichis discussion from a table over (Anko lost a bet so they didn't go to the Dango Shop for lunch). Anko said quietly, "So what is a bunch of Suna kunoichi's doing talking about ol' Naruto-kun for? My big sister sense is going off."

Kurenai smiled but said, "I've seen his fuinjutsu before. It sounds like Naruto dazzled them with that. Sounds like they are a bit smitten."

Anko said, "That's a given from the way they were talking but they also specifically said Naruto-kun defeated _Baki_ with fuinjutstu. Baki-san is the Kazekage's right hand man and a top ranked jonin in Suna." Anko chuckled. "I wonder what trouble Naruto-kun is in now. Of course he's living under the same roof as Hanako-sama. If the knucklehead got too far out of line I'm sure she's already smacked him around a bit."

"I need to meet Hanako-sama someday." said Kurenai. "From what I've seen of her granddaughter Hinata-sama she must be a superb kunoichi."

"The sanin feared Hanako-sama in their prime so she must be someone amazing." said Anko. "More importantly the snake was terrified of her so she has my greatest respect. Hanako-sama isn't the Hokage's advisor for nothing after all."

Kurenai chucked. "Asuma says that she and Hiruzen-sama are dating. Asuma says his Father is completely over the moon for her."

"I'll drop in on Naruto-kun at the Natsume place later and make sure he's safe." said Anko. "If nothing else I'll double check with Hanako-sama that he's not in more trouble than normal."

….

 **Natsume Residence**

Bunshichi and Naruto were relaxing in the Natsume family hot springs after their spar. "I don't know whether to envy you or pity you kid." said Bunshichi to his pupil. "I mean; the whole multi-wife harem thing sounds awesome but this Suna chick breaking in out of the blue could really jam up everything. On the other hand, is Temari-san hot?"

Naruto shrugged. "I know this sounds bad but I was so focused on getting that seven point seal right that I didn't pay much attention to her. She had a pretty face and sandy blonde hair in four pigtails. Her brother was wearing makeup that was kind of disturbing…."

Bunshichi sighed and smacked his apprentice on the head. "Always pay attention to the babes first Naruto! So what if her brother is a drag queen? Unless he was pretty or something….I guess I could forgive you then."

The blonde cringed. "He was ugly as sin but it was still distracting. Besides; it was the seven point seal that was important!"

The unshaven man shrugged. "I guess you're excused then. I'd have to concentrate to draw a straight line." (Naruto sweat dropped). "Incidentally; have you talked to Jiraiya-sama about your old man yet? The Fourth Hokage was his first apprentice after all."

"Jiraiya told me the last time we were working on the fuinjutsu book manuscripts together that he had a lot to tell me." explained Naruto. "He had a really pained expression and said he wanted to sit down with me and discuss it in detail without interruptions once I got back from my mission. Jiraiya seemed really bothered and said he hoped what he had to say wouldn't make me too angry with him. When I asked him what he meant Jiraiya said he'd explain it all when we got together next." Naruto scratched his neck. "I don't understand but he just dropped the subject after that."

"Well; he was close to your old man." mused Bunshichi. "Maybe he feels bad for not getting in touch with you sooner. I don't know. He was always busy being our spymaster so I didn't get to know him as well as I'd like. He gave me some training before my mission to Kiri. He acts goofy but he's one powerful shinobi. I wouldn't want to cross him."

The blonde shrugged. "I've been getting to know him a bit better but that fuinjutsu book has really taken precedence over everything. He's actually a very good writer. Shame he wastes it all on bad porn."

" ** _It's good porn!_** " shrieked Bunshichi indignantly.

….

Hanabi and Aya heard " ** _It's good porn!_** " ring throughout the house. Aya giggled at Bunshichi's passionate declaration and Hanabi sweat dropped. "Well, they are definitely still in the hot springs Aya-nee." said Hanabi. "Hopefully they'll be out soon since we've been waiting our turn."

Natsu soon arrived and informed Bunshichi and Naruto that the ladies were waiting and to hurry up…."Will you two gentlemen please finish up? You've already been in there over an hour! Aya-sama and Hanabi-sama have been patiently waiting for you to get done."

Bunshichi answered, "There are no gentlemen in here Natsu-san!"

" _Just hurry up!_ " growled Natsu irritably….

….Ten minutes later both men came out dressed and Natsu said, "Naruto; Hanako-sama says you need to wear formal attire to meet Kazekage-sama so come with me immediately. I have to do something with your hair and those fingernails."

"My fingernails?!" asked Naruto confused.

"I'm giving you a manicure." explained Natsu.

Naruto's eyes widened and he turned to Tawara only to see his sensei say, "You're on your own kid!" and vanish in a body flicker.

"Traitor." muttered Naruto. "There will be a reckoning Bunshichi-sensei…."

….

 **Hotel Guest Quarters**

Temari arrived back at the hotel at one o'clock to have lunch with her family. She was rather pleased with her situation given the reconnaissance she'd carried out this morning. ' _Hmph; even the Kazekage won't be able to say Naruto is weak_.' thought the sandy blonde kunoichi determined. ' _The Kazekage Clan** of Suna has always been strong and Naruto would be no exception. Imagine how strong our children could be with fuinjutsu and the magnet release. Rasa of the Gold Dust; I intend to win this one whether you like it or not_.'

Rasa arrived back at the same time having finished his morning talks with the Hokage. ' _I hope things went well with Baki in setting up a meeting this morning. Temari has her mind set on Naruto-san and legally I should support her decision. Still, marrying my beautiful daughter off to some foreign ninja doesn't appeal to me at all. If it was a political marriage I- ….Wait a minute. Temari marrying a talented Konoha ninja would certainly remove all doubts that Suna is fully committed to the Alliance we just reaffirmed. It wouldn't be absolutely necessary but offering a kunoichi as promising as Temari's hand in marriage_ ….'

….

….

" ** _WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S ALREADY ENGAGED?!_** " roared Temari over lunch. "- _And with multiple women no less?!_ _ **Explain**_ _this to me Baki!_ "

Kankuro looked terrified. Rasa looked dumbfounded at Temari's outburst. And Gaara….dug into his salad and kept on eating as if nothing had happened….

With yet another sick feeling of déjà vu; the trembling Baki said, "Now Temari, let me describe the situation." Seeing Temari nod angrily in assent; the turban wearing jonin explained; "Naruto-san is the last heir of the royal line of the Uzumaki Clan. In order to repopulate the clan he has to take multiple wives. He already has two fiancés as it is. I spoke to him and Hanako-sama at length and I agreed with them that you would probably not wish to share a husband with other women. Furthermore; as I said earlier; he knew nothing of your bride-price so you are not honor bound to marry him."

Rasa said, "Well; this strange situation pretty much resolved itself Temari. Your happiness comes first as far as I am concerned."

"There is on little problem." growled Temari. Seeing her Father's expectant look she said, "I. Want. Him."

….

 **Natsume Residence**

Hinata and Maya got home only to hear Naruto holler, " ** _YEOUCH!_** What are you trying to do woman?! Pull my hair out by the roots?!"

"Be quiet Naruto-san! I _will_ victor over these blonde spikes if it's the last thing I do!" yelled Natsu.

Maya and Hinata rushed in the front door and saw Hanako calmly drinking tea. Hanabi and Aya were there as well but looked rather disturbed at all of the noise coming from Naruto and Natsu.

"OUCH! _OUCH!_ _ **OUCH!**_ Give me that comb before you tear my scalp off!" yelled Naruto.

The maid yelled back, "Give me back my styling comb!"

"No way." he replied. "This thing should be registered as a weapon in your hands. Put down those scissors Natsu! You aren't cutting one little bit of my hair!"

She said coldly, "You've given me no choice Naruto-san. If I can't _comb_ it then _I will cut it_ …."

What sounded like a kunai fight ensued….

"Naruto-kun!" exclaimed Hinata. "Obaa-chan; what is going on in there?"

Hanako calmly took a sip of tea and said, "Kazekage-sama wishes to meet Naruto-kun do to the situation with Gaara-san's seal. Needless to say Naruto-kun needs to dress formally so I left it to Natsu to give him a manicure and to fix his hair up a bit."

"Give me back my scissors you scoundrel!" screeched Natsu in the background.

"Ahahaha!" thundered Naruto. "Let's see how you like it if I take a few whacks at your hair!"

" _EEEEEEEP!_ " shrieked the kunoichi/maid.

Maya was nearly bug eyed. "Hinata-chan; it's time to perform an intervention. Let's go!"

When the two girls got into Natsu's room/hair salon they found Natsu on one side of her dresser with Naruto on the opposite side twirling hair care instruments menacingly. His hair was half wet and half spiked and he had a look of depravity in his eyes. For her part Natsu looked frightened as a cornered rabbit.

Hinata said, "Naruto-kun, Natsu-san; stop this at once! By the gods; what did you do to Naruto-kun's hair Natsu-san?"

"I was _trying_ to fix it and make Naruto-san presentable but his hair is as stubborn as he is!" said Natsu defensively.

Naruto waved the comb menacingly at the kunoichi/maid and said, "Torture and Interrogation by ANBU is gentler than you sadist!"

Hinata gently took the comb and scissors from her boyfriend and said, "Maya-chan and I can fix you up. Natsu, go have some tea with Obaa-sama. You are clearly out of sorts."

Natsu bowed, "Of course Hinata-sama." She glared at Naruto as he stuck his tongue out at her….

….

Maya drenched Naruto's hair and shampooed it before she towel dried it and ran a brush through his hair so his spiky hair so it would lay down naturally (for Naruto). Maya shook her head and said, "There; that's as orderly as your hair will get without varnishing it. Natsu obviously had no idea."

Hinata said, "Hold still and let me trim a few stands Naruto-kun." Within ten minutes Hinata trimmed back the spikes that were totally out of control and called it good. "There we are Naruto-kun." said Hinata as she gave her boyfriend a kiss. "Since Natsu already took care of your nails; let's get you in your formal robes on so you look all nice and neat for Kazekage-sama."

….

Naruto was soon in his crimson Uzumaki Clan kimono with a white spiral on the back. He also was wearing the Shippuuhime and Kurimuzo-kougou ceremonially in his obi. In addition he had his fuinjutsu brush and ink concealed in his kimono (just in case). Hanako nodded and said, "You clean up well Naruto-kun. You look very nice. Just mind your manners and everything should be fine."

Naruto smiled shyly, "Thank you Obaa-chan. Where are the girls? They were here just a minute ago. I wanted to know if they approved."

Hanako said, "I had a shadow clone take them to the study to explain the situation with Temari-san and this whole betrothal business. I figure if they both explode at least it will be behind silencing seals."

Naruto cringed. "I hoped to tell them myself."

"The Kazekage and his party will be here within the next fifteen minutes." said Hanako. "There simply wasn't time."

Naruto nodded sullenly and quietly awaited the knock on the door from the Kazekage's entourage.

….

Five minutes later there was a knocking on the front door and Natsu went to answer it. It was none other than Hikari in her ANBU gear (minus her mask). "Good afternoon Natsu-san; is Naruto-kun home?" asked the blonde girl with a warm smile.

Natsu looked taken aback and said, "Ummm, Hikari-san; this is most unexpected!"

Naruto poked his head out from behind Natsu and said, "Hikari-chan? I'm glad to see you but-"

Hikari's green eyes lit up. "Wow Naruto-kun; you look great dressed formally!" she grabbed his hands and took a walk all over the blonde ninja with her eyes. ' _Mmmm….Hikari-chan likes!_ ' "So what's the occasion? Is Hokage-sama coming to visit? I mean, you always call him Jiji anyway."

Hanako chuckled and said, "Actually the _Kazekage_ is coming Hikari-san." Hikari's eyes widened. Hanako's byakugan was active. "I can see the Kazekage and his entourage now. Naruto-kun; make a shadow clone and have him take Hikari-san to your fuinjutsu office to explain things."

The whiskered ninja blanched and then nodded. He made a shadow clone and said, "There isn't much time to explain right now Hikari-chan so please go with my clone and activate the silencing seals once you get in the office."

Naruto's clone took Hikari's hand and said, "Come on Hikari-chan. We need to scat until the formal meeting with the Kazekage is done."

Hikari smiled and said, "This sounds like an interesting story…." as she allowed herself to be led back to Naruto's office….

Naruto thought to himself, ' _Great, I have a house full of girls and the Kazekage's daughter is coming. On the positive side Natsuko isn't here making a spectacle of herself_ ….'

….

 _Across town the Nadeshiko kunoichi Natsuko sneezed_ ….

….

 **In the Study….**

"I still say we should have a word in this Obaa-chan." said Hinata irritably. "Maya-chan and I just approved Hikari-chan joining our family and now this Temari woman falls out of the sky and wants our Naruto-kun."

Maya nodded. "I'm inclined to chase her off at sword point myself."

Hanako's shadow clone said with a tone of finality, "And that is why you young ladies _aren't_ at the meeting. This is delicate and you two would charge in like Naruto usually does. My original is supervising him so that _won't_ happen. We're going to stay here in the study and let cooler heads prevail.

" _But Obaa-chan!_ " said the two girls as one.

"No and that's final." said Hanako's shadow clone. "Now both of you settle down and drink your tea."

….

 **The path to the Natsume Residence**

Rasa, Baki and Temari were escorted by the Suna jonin Airi and the two chunins Michiko and Haruna. Both Gaara and Kankuro elected to stay behind to ' _avoid being at ground zero'_ as Kankuro put it. Baki wanted to stay behind as well but the Kazekage wouldn't hear of it. Hence the hapless turban wearing jonin was leading the way to the Natsume residence.

Temari had a determined look on her face. ' _I should be able to convince Nauto-san to change his mind but why is Kazekage-sama supporting it? He was against it before so he must have a reason_.'

Rasa thought to himself, ' _Temari marrying Naruto-san could help cement the Suna/Konoha Alliance. The fact he is the jinchūriki of the nine tails and a fuinjutsu master would only reinforce his future value as an ally. I hate to use Temari this way but she is determined and if it will make her happy then I will approve_.' He turned to his daughter and said, "Are you sure about this Temari? This marriage isn't something to take lightly."

The sandy blonde kunoichi nodded and said, "I will have Naruto-san as my husband."

Baki thought, ' _Temari sounds quite hell bent on this. I hope it doesn't break out into violence. Naruto-san's brush is dangerous_.'

….

Natsu soon welcomed the Kazekage's party inside where they were formally welcomed by Naruto and Hanako and were served traditional matcha tea and wagashi sweets by Natsu. Naruto wasn't crazy about green tea (he preferred black tea) but given the formality of the situation he drank it as gracefully as possible.

Rasa said, "I thank you for welcoming us into your home. It seems I owe you a great debt for curing Gaara's madness Naruto-san."

"I only did what I felt was right Kazekage-sama." said Naruto. "Seeing a fellow jinchūriki in such pain due to that _abomination_ of a seal was abhorrent to me. Besides, he was a danger to others as he was. I was glad to help."

"I understand why you would remove Gaara as a potential threat but I am curious as to why you did not seal his abilities entirely." said the Kazekage.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Suna and Konoha are allies are we not? It was my intention to help Gaara-san, not leave him defenseless." Naruto saw Hanako nod slightly in approval of his answer.

 _Flashback…._

 _Hanako said, "Naruto-kun; the discussion with the Kazekage will be like fencing. I will be there but Rasa-sama will constantly be probing your defenses with questions. I doubt he will be using killing intent but I'm sure he will be using mind games and manipulation to find out your real intentions."_

 _Naruto gave a surprised look. "That sounds like what Ibiki has been doing to me for years."_

 _The Hyūga matriarch's face brightened. "That's precisely what you'll be dealing with. It seems your troublemaking ways as a child have reaped some unexpected benefits." Hanako smiled. "Consider yourself under ANBU interrogation and you should do just fine Naruto-kun."_

 _Flashback end…._

The whiskered ninja was holding up shockingly well under the scrutiny of the Kazekage and his endless barrage of questions. Rasa was thoroughly impressed. ' _This boy….he has potential. He's answered all of my questions with a minimum of information given out and hasn't lowered his defenses at all_.' "What would you do if you met the seal master that put Gaara's original seal in place Naruto-san?"

Naruto paused and then smiled with an unholy fire blazing in his eyes. "Why, I would **_educate_** that person in the fine art of Uzumaki fuinjutsu." the blonde said in a voice that would have made the Shinigami proud. There was no killing intent; just pure, unadulterated malice in his tone.

' _He'll kill Chiyo-sama in a heartbeat if he ever meets her_ ….' thought the Kazekage and his entire party with a collective sweat drop.

Baki cringed slightly. ' _The boy hasn't buckled at all under Kazekage-sama's questioning. He might actually be a good match for a kunoichi as strong willed as Temari_.'

Temari had been silently studying Naruto throughout the entire exchange between the Kazekage and the seal master. Her teal eyes sparked with approval….

….

 **In the Fuinjutsu Office….**

Naruto's clone wrote:

 _In through the outside, out through the in_

 _Around the curve into a spin_

 _I went over the edge at the Valley of the End_

"…." said Naruto. "Maybe not."

"Bwahaha! That has to be the worst attempt at a haiku I've ever seen." said Hikari laughing.

"It does fit my life right now though." said Naruto. "At least you are taking this news about Temari-san well. I was afraid you'd be angry."

Hikari got her giggles under control and said, "You worry too much Naruto-kun. I doubt the Kazekage would support giving his daughter away to a total stranger anyway."

"I guess you're right Hikari-chan." said Naruto. "Maybe I am worked up over nothing."

….

 **In the Front Room….**

Temari said, "I understand from Baki-sensei that you were not aware of my bride-price when you placed the new seal on my brother Gaara."

Naruto nodded. "That's correct Temari-san. I was far enough ahead of you that I never heard you. Baki told me this morning and that was the first I'd heard of it. I'm sorry for all the confusion."

"It's unimportant." said the sandy blonde kunoichi. Naruto looked relieved. Temari added, "You still fulfilled the contract of my bride-price so there is no reason we can't go ahead and proceed with it. I believe you are the kind of man I would like to have as my husband. There is this matter of other wives though…."

"What exactly do you mean?" asked Naruto warily.

Temari said in a matter of fact tone, "It's simple. I would be the head of your harem. I realize you are locked and honor bound to marry these other women but I am the heiress to the Kazekage Clan and therefore have rank."

Naruto frowned and said, "There are no ranks among my fiancés. If anything, Maya-chan is the head of the Natsume Clan and Hinata-chan is the Heiress of the Hyūga Clan. They are both powerful kunoichis. You met them yesterday. Their status would be equal to yours."

The fan wielding kunoichi's teal eyes widened. ' _I never imagined he would already be engaged to_ _ **nobility**_ _. Damn_.' She glanced at Baki for a split second. ' _Baki left that out. Maybe he didn't know. The Natsumes have the ryugan and the Hyūgas have the byakugan. They would hold as much esteem as the magnet release provided I pass it on to my own children…_.'

The wind mistress' brain was working overtime to solve this issue. Naruto could see the gears whirling in her head. The whiskered blonde said, "I think it would be best to drop this idea Temari-san."

"Well I don't." countered Temari.

' _What a hard headed kunoichi_.' thought Naruto. ' _What has her so fixated? Is she truly that honor bound? Is there some other factor involved?_ ' Naruto said in a determined tone. "If you truly want in then you have to befriend my other fiancés first. I can't have infighting in my house or it will collapse."

" _What?_ " she asked. "There are always politics in a harem situation. It's _always_ that way. Are you naïve or just an idealist?"

Naruto shook his head. "I'm building a _family_ , not a harem. If you are interested in this just for some kind of political reason then you'll never fit in."

Temari looked conflicted and said, "It's not about politics; it's about honor. Besides, I find you-"

The Kazekage cut her off. "I would support such a marriage. It would not only symbolize the alliance between Suna and Konoha but it would make my daughter happy which is my overriding goal as a Father naturally."

The sandy blonde kunoichi's eyes widened. ' _He's supporting this as a political gesture? I don't know whether to thank Kazekage-sama or deck him with my fan_.'

Hanako raised a delicate eyebrow and thought, ' _So that's your game Kazekage-sama?_ ' "With all due respect Kazekage-sama, proposing to marry your daughter to the Hokage's _younger cousin_ is quite a bold political move. I'm sure Tsunade-sama would have a strong opinion about this matter."

' _He's the Hokage's cousin…? This complicates matters_.' thought Rasa to himself. "What would you suggest then Hanako-sama? You are more knowledgeable about Naruto-san's situation than I."

The Hyūga Matriarch thought to herself; ' _So he's putting the ball in my court is he?_ ' "My suggestion; as trite as it may sound, would be to delay a formal betrothal and let Naruto and Temari-san get to know each other first. It would prevent a political marriage that would possibly end in unhappiness for all parties involved because the situation was rushed."

Rasa looked thoughtful for a moment and said, "What do you think Temari? Hanako-sama's suggestion seems quite reasonable to me. If you and Naruto-san get along well then you will have my blessing but if things don't work out then there would be no stain upon your honor because Naruto-san didn't know about your bride-price."

Temari sighed. ' _I think this is as good as it's going to get_.' "I am willing to accept these terms. What do you think Naruto-san?"

Naruto thought ruefully to himself; ' _The girls are going to kill me_.' "I will accept these terms as well for the good of our alliance."

 **In the Study….**

"They just shook hands." said Hinata with her byakugan active. "It looks like Temari-san and the Kazekage are leaving."

Maya nodded, "What about Hikari-chan?"

Hinata's shoulders sagged, "She's been in the fuinjutsu office with making out with Naruto-kun's clone the whole time."

"Lucky bitch." grumbled Maya.

"I quite agree." grouched Hinata.

Hanako's clone ordinarily would have scolded the girls for their lack of decorum but frankly she was trying hard not to laugh….

POSTSCRIPT:

**Kazekage Clan: Well, that's what they call the Clan in the Wiki. They haven't been given a true family name so we'll stick with that for now.

Alright, writing between work and home and posting from work officially sucks. Not only is it difficult and takes forever but keeping the flow of the chapters is a mess. Hopefully this didn't turn out too bad. I wanted to put something out there to prove I'm still alive and all but it could use some polishing when I get time. Okay, so Temari didn't exactly get her way but she didn't lose out either. Naruto was handling things well enough until international politics got involved but fortunately his favorite Obaa-chan was there to bail him out of a locked in marriage. Next time we'll see the girl's reaction to Naruto's situation with Temari and Naruto will finally have a long awaited talk with Jiraiya. See you next time. Blue out. 2/25/17


	38. Chapter 38

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

This chapter came to me in bits and pieces so the flow isn't exactly what I wanted. I mainly wanted to tie up loose ends this chapter and most of the plot points I planned to cover are all taken care of. I still haven't got the next installment of **_Darkness Rising_** done. After three and a half drafts I feel like I'm forcing the issue so I'm going to back off of it for now. Here is chapter 38. Enjoy!

[ ] signifies hand signs

Last time:

 ** _In the Study…._**

 _"They just shook hands." said Hinata with her byakugan active. "It looks like Temari-san and the Kazekage are leaving."_

 _Maya nodded, "What about Hikari-chan?"_

 _Hinata's shoulders sagged, "She's been in the fuinjutsu office with making out with Naruto-kun's clone the whole time."_

 _"Lucky bitch." grumbled Maya._

 _"I quite agree." grouched Hinata._

 _Hanako's clone ordinarily would have scolded the girls for their lack of decorum but frankly she was trying hard not to laugh…._

 **Chapter 38**

 **Fire Country, Konoha, the path to the Natsume Residence**

"Temari and I will head back alone Baki; you and the others are dismissed." said the Kazekage as Baki bowed and led Airi, Michiko and Haruna back to the hotel. Temari glanced at her Father but said nothing. Once they were alone Rasa said, "Walk with me daughter." Seeing the sandy blonde kunoichi nod in assent he asked, "What do you think of the situation Temari? Are you pleased? In spite of the fact I had my misgivings having met young Naruto I feel he would be good husband material. There are extenuating circumstances of course but getting to know him better first will make things smoother. Then again; you take after your Mother."

The sandy blonde kunoichi raised an eyebrow and asked. "What do you mean?"

Rasa chuckled. "What I mean is once you have your mind set you are just like Karura-chan was. Your Mother was a kind, gentle and caring woman but she could be demanding. Do you know that the first time we met she came up to me and told me, ' _Rasa, you will be my husband_.' "It was the first time I'd laid eyes on her and I'd just become a jonin! A month later we were married and a year after that we had you. Those were the best times of my life you know."

Temari felt honestly touched. Her Father never spoke of her Mother and Temari never knew how they first met. As Rasa fondly spoke about Karura the sandy blonde haired kunoichi felt closer to her Father than she had in over a decade. The Suna girl thought to herself, ' _This is nice_ ….'

Father and daughter had a pleasant walk around the Village of Konoha that afternoon taking in the sights. That evening when the Family had dinner together Temari felt like things were starting to finally fall into place. ' _I never dreamed things would turn out this well_.' she thought as she watched Gaara and Kakuro acting like real brothers….

….

 **Natsume Clan Home**

The next morning; Naruto's eyes fluttered open in Hinata's room. He was lying on his back with his Byakugan Hime lying asleep against his right side. ' _Hinata-chan is so awesome_ ….' he thought with a goofy smile on his face. _'I can't believe how incredibly sexy and seductive she can be_.' They'd made love for hours on end last night and Naruto had been shocked at how flexible Hinata was and the amazing positions they tried. She was so different from Maya's wildness and yet she was so incredibly sensual and intense as well….

"I can die happy now…." muttered the blonde to himself.

Hinata woke up a few minutes later feeling completely sated. She lethargically started kissing Naruto and he met her kisses with his own. They were deep and romantic kisses with just a hint of lust. Both young lovers were content to just hold each other under the warm bed sheets for now….

….

Later that morning Hyūga Natsu answered the door to an unexpected visitor. It was the Hyūga Clan's head lawyer Bengoshi, "Ah Natsu-san; it has been some time. I'd heard you were helping out here. It is good to see you in good health."

Natsu said, "It has been awhile Bengoshi-san. What might bring you out this way?"

' _She is direct as usual_.' thought the lawyer. "I was hoping to see Hinata-sama would be in. There are legal matters to discuss."

"I'm sure I can help." said Hanako. "Hinata-chan is out but I am her guardian and legal counsel after all."

Bengoshi cringed. ' _I had truly hoped to avoid Hanako-sama. She is a frightening woman_.' "Ah, Hanako-sama. I would not wish to bother you with such trivialities."

"You are here about the Uchiha holdings and lands being transferred to Hinata-chan are you not?" asked the Hyūga matriarch. Seeing Bengoshi nod weakly Hanako said, "That's hardly trivial. Come in and we will review things."

"O-of course Hanako-sama." said the lawyer as he followed her inside.

….

 **Meanwhile at the movie theatre** ….

Hinata, Maya and Naruto had taken Hanabi and her best friend Senju Mito to see the latest Princess Gale Movie and were having a great time. Hanabi was sitting in between Hinata and Mito with Naruto and Maya sitting on the other side of Mito. Hanabi was gripped onto her big sister during the more frightening parts but generally thought the movie was great. Likewise Mito was clinging to Naruto.

After the movie was over the group went to Amaguriama Sweets Shop to have a snack and ran into Team 9 who were taking a break with their sensei, Maito Gai. Konoha's Green Beast greeted them boisterously. "Hello Team 11, I see you are spreading your _Flames of Youth_ to the younger generation! Come join us."

"It's Gai-sensei!" giggled Hanabi.

"It's so…. _green!_ " gasped out Mito.

Soon everyone exchanged greetings and sat down to eat together. The ANBU Brats were talking in ANBU hand signs because of the civilians around (Not to mention Hanabi and Mito).

[We heard your mission was a rough one.] signed Neji. [Were any of you injured badly?]

[We were all roughed up but Maya-chan had it the worst.] signed Hinata. [Naruto-kun had to carry her part of the way.]

Tenten's eyes widened. [Are you okay Maya?]

Maya winked. [I'm right as rain now. Getting beat up was nothing compared to the mental stresses of that mission.]

Lee signed, [We heard you had to burn a village down.]

Naruto nodded grimly. [It was living hell Lee.]

[I heard from Yūgao.] signed Gai. [Others of lesser mettle would not have survived that. Your _Flames of Youth_ burn brightly my young friends.]

Things soon turned to lighter such as the Princess Gale movie and Mito and Hanabi's aspirations to be great kunoichis. Before Team 11 and company parted ways Naruto signed to Neji [Come by the Natsume Clan home this evening. I've got a trick to show you.]

Neji looked surprised but nodded anyway. [I'll be by around six.]

Naruto gave a thumbs up and joined the others. "What's up Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata curiously.

"It's time we got rid of Neji's problem." Naruto said tapping his forehead where the caged bird seal was placed.

Hinata gave him a huge smile….

….

 **Natsume Clan Home**

That evening Neji was welcomed to dinner at the Natsume home and was a bit puzzled as his cousins and even his Obaa-chan seemed very excited though Natsu seemed to be acting normal. After dinner Naruto patted Neji on the shoulder and said, "Let's go to my fuinjutsu office."

Seeing his family smiling and nodding, Neji followed the blonde ninja out. "So what is going on Naruto?" asked Neji curiously as they entered the office. ' _I guess I've never been in here before. Look at all these books! I always figured Naruto would be a slob but this place is spotless_.'

Naruto activated the silencing seals and said, "Hinata-chan asked me to create a way to get rid of the caged bird seal Neji." The Juken prodigy's eyes widened. "So Hanako Obaa-chan got a copy of the seal's application for me." said Naruto as he pointed to the ancient looking Caged Bird Seal Scroll on his desk. "It took a bit of time to reverse engineer it but I finished the counterseal just before we left on that mission from hell. I wanted to remove it sooner but we were all banged up and needed to heal so we waited until we ran into you in passing."

Neji looked shocked and sat down. "Will this counterseal really work Naruto? I know you are a genius at this stuff but…."

The blonde grinned and said, "You want proof? I don't blame you. Getting rid of that damned juinjutstu seal is supposed to be impossible right?"

"It's just hard to conceive..." admitted Neji.

"Not to worry." said the blonde. He got out a piece of parchment and said, "I'm going to apply the caged bird seal to this scroll and then I'll use the counterseal on it to demonstrate; okay?"

The long haired young man nodded and aid, "Show me."

The seal master took a deep breath and pulled his fuinjustu brush out and dipped it in chakra ink before he deftly applied the caged bird to the parchment and said "Fuin." The symbol smoked slightly and Neji winced remembered the horrible pain he experienced as a mere child when the same monstrosity was applied to him. Naruto looked disgusted at the swastika shaped seal on the parchment and said, "This juinjutsu seal is an abomination I intend to wipe out. Watch the counterseal now Neji."

Neji nodded and watched carefully as Naruto quickly applied a seal that reminded the long haired boy of the sun with and Uzumaki swirl in the center. Naruto said, "Hinata-chan calls this the Rising Sun Seal. Fuin." The Hyūga prodigy's eyes widened as the sun symbol enveloped the swastika and banished it away forever before fading away itself.

The young Hyūga gasped and said, "It works….It actually works! Naruto-san; I-"

"Take off your headband so I can remove that atrocity from your forehead Neji." ordered the blonde.

Neji removed his headband and found he was trembling though he wasn't sure if it was from fear or excitement. Naruto said; "Hold still." and gripped Neji's jaw firmly to hold him steady. Neji felt the cool brush strokes against his forehead as the counter seal was applied. Then Naruto said, "Rising Sun Seal; Fuin!"

The Hyūga felt a sensation of warmth on his forehead that he imagined as sunlight and the seal master said, "Fuinjutsu, success!"

"Is it gone?!" asked Neji in excitement.

Naruto handed him a mirror and said, "See the proof for yourself Neji."

Neji looked in the mirror and saw nothing but unblemished skin where the caged bird seal had once been. He traced his fingers over the spot in disbelief and expected it to be a dream he'd wake up from. The prodigy looked closely and saw the tan line where his headband covered the mark that had defined his life. Making his mind up Neji said, "There is one iron test I must perform Naruto."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and asked, "What test is that?"

"We need Hanako Obaa-sama for this." said Neji.

….

Soon Hanako, Hinata, Hanabi, Neji and Naruto were gathered in the main study behind silencing seals and Neji had an unusual request. "Hanako Obaa-sama, please use the hand signs to activate the caged bird seal. That will be the final test to show it is really gone."

Hinata looked concerned but Naruto smiled and put her at ease.

Hanako said, "Very well Neji-kun. I suppose this is necessary. Are you ready?" Neji closed his eyes and braced for the pain as Hanako went through the signs she hated so much.

"I am prepared." said Neji with closed eyes.

The Hyūga matriarch said, "Open your eyes Neji." When he did he saw Hanako's hands in the position that should have caused him great pain. "The Rising Sun has freed the Caged Bird." said Hanako as she stood up and lightly kissed Neji's unmarked forehead. "You are free grandson of mine." She had tears in her eyes. "You have no idea how happy I am at this moment."

Realization hit Neji like a freight train and he hugged Hanako tightly before he burst into joyous tears….

….

After everyone had calmed down Hinata said, "Neji-niisan; we need to discreetly remove the seal from all the branch house members before you walk around openly without your headband. I think Naruto-kun could easily remove the seal from a single family in an evening. What do you suggest?"

Neji rubbed his chin. "One family at a time eh? That's clever Hinata-sama. The main branch won't know until after the seal is already gone." The prodigy pondered for a moment and said, "We'll start with the head of the guards, Hoheto. If he is in on it will be easy to convince the others to let Naruto go about his business unscathed."

"Excellent Neji-kun!" said Hanako. "That is a well thought out plan."

"Can we trust Natsu?" asked Hanabi.

Hinata shook her head. "I'd like to but it's too risky given she is from the main branch. We have to be unobtrusive when we do this. Naruto-kun and Neji-niisan can go to the compound to retrieve some formal robes for Hanabi-chan and I and you can link up with Hoheto-san then."

Naruto thought to himself, ' _OPERATION RISING SUN; BEGIN!_ '

….

 **Suza's Tea House**

The next day Hinata was meeting with her Father at Suza's Tea House. Originally she was going to ask Hanako to come and 'chaperone' but ended up deciding to face this issue herself. Hinata looked at her watch and thought, ' _I'm five minutes early. I guess I'll get a table for two_.'

Hiashi arrived five minutes later and saw his eldest daughter already seated. He then noticed she was armed to the teeth and in her ANBU gear with her Hakutsume blades. He was in informal Hyūga robes. The Clan Head sighed. ' _I see she is still on the defensive. I guess I shouldn't blame her_.' In spite of himself Hiashi couldn't help but admire how beautiful his daughter looked even with her somewhat fearsome expression. He came over and said, "Good afternoon Hinata-chan."

"I bid you greetings Hiashi-sama." said Hinata formally. "Shall we order our tea before we discuss matters?"

….

Hiashi noted his daughter's still alert posture and sighed a bit. Their tea had arrived and they were drinking in silence. He said; "I received the mission report from your trip to Tea Country Hinata-chan. I am very proud of your bravery and your combat prowess. Your sensei spoke of all three of you in glowing terms. Are you….coping okay? I know that had to be a huge mental strain in that…. _infested_ village.

"It was hell on earth." said Hinata emotionlessly. "Naruto-kun's mastery with seals is the only reason we made it out of the village alive."

"I owe Naruto-san a great deal of gratitude then." said Hiashi. "I don't know what I'd have done if I lost you."

Hinata wanted to snort in dismissal but thought better of it. ' _I wonder if I'll ever be able to truly forgive this man. Part of me wants to but it is so difficult_.'

Hiashi asked, "So did you tour the former Uchiha estate yet Hinata-chan? * _Cough_ *Bengoshi* _Cough_ * said he dropped off the paperwork with Kaa-san as well as the new bank accounts the clan set up for you."

The Hyūga Heiress's eyes narrowed at the mention of her least favorite lawyer. "I signed the paperwork once I was sure it was in proper order. I will have Natsu deliver the clan's copy for filing purposes."

"Did you want to see your new property?" asked Hiashi. "I took the liberty of having it surveyed for you so you can look at it whenever you wish." said Hiashi as he handed her a scroll.

"I will look over it at a later time." said Hinata politely. ' _I have no desire to see that dead place right now_.'

The Clan Head asked, "So how is Hanabi-chan doing? I miss her as much as I do you my daughter."

The pair talked for some time before bidding each other farewell. Hinata didn't know what to feel but the discussion had been civil and that alone was a step in the right direction….

….

 **Konoha Avairy**

The Nadeshiko kunoichi Natsuko had a rather fruitless week on finding Naruto's place of residence. She was being shadowed by ANBU and wasn't too happy about it. That's when she _finally_ got a return letter from Nadeshiko Village.

 _Natsuko-san,_

 _I will have to travel to Konoha to get this mess taken care of in person. I have included diplomatic papers to clear you of charges by making you a (temporary) Ambassador to Konoha from the Nadeshko Village. Until things are sorted I would advise that you keep your head low and do not cause conflicts. I also have sent a separate letter to the Hokage in order to confirm all of this._

 _I congratulate you on finding a husband but do not press the issue for now. Until I am able to come there you will probably be under intense scrutiny even with some measure of diplomatic immunity so if your husband is confused then leave him be. If he is a good a seal master the Konoha may not be willing to let him go so easily. It is paramount that you stay out of trouble! I promise you I will negotiate the matter on your behalf._

 _Your cousin,_

 _-Shizuka-sama_

Natsuko looked over the letter carefully as well as the diplomatic papers. She decided the best option would be to see the Hokage's Advisor Sarutobi-sama about the matter and getting things cleared with him. The Nadeshiko kuniochi knew the Hokage was still busy with the Kazekage in diplomatic talks.

She thought to herself, ' _Ugh. I wish I could just lure Naruto-kun away and elope with him. It would be so much easier_ ….'

….

 **Hyūga Compound**

Neji and Naruto went over to the Hyūga Compound to retrieve some formal robes for Hinata-sama and Hanabi-sama by having some of the maids pick out appropriate clothing. In the meantime the two young men went to see the off duty Head Guard Hyūga Hoheto (He worked overnight shifts). Neji knocked on the door of the topknot wearing Hoheto and the two younger ninjas waited until the Head Guard blearily opened his door. Hoheto said tiredly, "Neji-san, Uzumaki-san; is there and emergency?"

Neji simply said, "We need to talk in private Hoheto. May we come in?"

….

To say Hoheto was shocked seeing Neji's cursed seal was gone was a huge understatement. Having his own as well as his wife's removed shocked the Head Guard even more. It didn't take long to make arrangements for the guard shifts at night to let Naruto and Neji move freely about the compound after midnight when everyone but the guards were asleep for the night….

….

Over the next several days Naruto removed the caged bird seal as quickly as he could. On a couple of occasions he used one or two shadow clones to speed up the process but the blonde was trying to keep a low profile. The Branch House was in high spirits as was expected but managed to keep the secret to themselves. Several Main House members had an inkling that something was amiss but had no idea what it was and the concept that the Caged Bird Seal was being removed right under their noses was too ridiculous even to contemplate. Naruto got rid of the last seal ten days later.

" _OPERATION RISING SUN; SUCCESS!_ " said Naruto when the last one was done. "Being an outlaw is a blast!"

….

 **Konoha Main Gates**

The next morning the Kazekage's party was being bid farewell by the Hokage and Naruto was off to one side saying his goodbyes to Temari. They had been on three informal 'dates' during the last week to get to know each other better. They agreed to stay in touch via letter for now. "Have a safe trip home Temari-san." said Naruto. "I look forward to getting a letter from you saying you made it back safe and sound."

Temari smiled. "I'll do that Naruto-san. When the Chunin Exams roll around my brothers and I will be back to participate so be prepared for some tough competition."

Naruto chuckled and said, "I'll look forward to that. Farewell Temari-san."

"Farewell Naruto-san." said the sandy blonde kunoichi. "Stay safe for me."

The Kazekage's party was on their way ten minutes later and Temari had a smile on her face….

….

 **Natsume Clan Home**

While Naruto was busy with the Kazekage's farewell; Maya was reading through the family scrolls concerning the Mokuton which her Great-Great Grandmother Mēpuru had. ' _According to this I need to learn nature manipulation with both water and earth chakra before I attempt to combine them. I'm already working on earth so I guess that's a step in the right direction. I mentioned it to sensei and she wants to talk to the Hokage about it. She also said she knows someone that might be able to help. Of course; the First Hokage was the Fifth's Grandfather so maybe the Senju's have scrolls as well. Mokuton is more of a footnote in the Natsume Clan scrolls because everyone had the Ryugan_.'

"A ryo for your thoughts Maya nee-chan?" asked Aya as she came in from the Ninja Academy for lunch.

Maya looked up and smiled at her sister. "Just reading up on the Mokuton Aya-chan. It's a bit of a mystery you know."

Aya said, "Well, you already used it instinctively so you know it's there. What do the scrolls say?"

"According to this, mastering both my earth and water natures is a must so I'm working towards that." said the silver haired beauty. "I guess I'm just being impatient."

The younger sister giggled. "I'll bet Hanako Obaa-chan will know something. She always does."

Maya brightened and said, I'll bet you are right."

….

 **Training Ground 11**

After two weeks of (very busy) down time; Team 11 was assembled on their regular training ground. Naruto, Maya and Hinata were standing at the ready with their sensei Yūgao. She saw the fire in their eyes and smiled. "This week we are going to focus on ninjutsu and chakra manipulation. All of you passed your psyche evaluations and I know you are eager to get back into action. Let's warm up with bare handed sparring, no weapons. After that I have several D and C ranked jutsus in scrolls for you to learn and practice."

Naruto grinned. "I'm going to be using the Whirlpool Style sensei. I hope you are ready."

"I heard from Tawara." said Yūgao with a grin. Let's spar on the water so you don't demolish the landscape."

Both Hinata and Maya raised their eyebrows. "Got some new moves Naruto-kun?" asked Maya. Seeing Naruto nod and grin she said, "Sounds like fun."

" _LET'S GET WILD!_ " cheered Team 11 much to their sensei's amusement.

….

The kids were soon learning to reinforce their bodies with chakra so they would be more resistant to damage and were going all out sparring. Yūgao was particularly pleased with Naruto's Whirlpool style. He was _finally_ keeping up with Maya's Natsume Goushin-Ryu and Hinata's modified Juken Style. Yūgao was also sparring with her team and found that they were improving by leaps and bounds.

After about two hours of hard physical exercise and sparring the group took a break to eat and recharge themselves. "Man, what a rush!" said Naruto. "I can't believe how much it helps reinforcing your body with chakra sensei."

Maya nodded. "No kidding; we normally would have been really battered by now."

"Now onto some offensive and defensive jutsus." said the purple haired sword mistress. Yūgao worked her team hard all afternoon but she was proud of them the way they threw themselves back into training. They exceeded her expectations and Naruto was getting the getting the hang of his wind jutsus such as Great Breakthrough. Hinata mastered Water Encampment Wall and Maya was learning Earth Spikes. They were also all learning the shuriken shadow clone and kunai shadow clone jutsus to increase their firepower with weapons aside of their swords.

Soon, the team was all sitting in a circle watching as Yūgao demonstrated streaming chakra through a kunai to reinforce it. "All three of you already do this instinctively with your family swords but I want to teach you each to do this with kunai to give you an advantage in a non sword fight."

The group practiced chakra streaming until late when they called it quits for the evening….

….

A week later Team 11 was more than mission ready and prepared for action. They'd already received A+ mission pay for their little trip into Tea Country plus the bounty money for the missing nins they'd slain in combat. It was Friday and Yūgao said, "We're going to take the weekend off and get a fresh mission from Hokage-sama Monday morning. Rest up team; you've worked hard this week." She then disappeared in a body flicker.

"….And we _still_ need to learn the body flicker." moped Naruto.

….

 **Senju Compound**

On Saturday Naruto went over to the Senju Compound to meet up with Jiraiya. The Toad Sanin greeted him with a weak smile and said, "It's time we had that talk." Naruto had a sense of foreboding the way Jiraiya said those words and followed the white haired man back into the compound where Naruto served up some sake as they sat down.

The Toad Sanin sighed and said, "Naruto; I don't know how to sugarcoat this but I'm your deadbeat Godfather."

Naruto stared at Jiraiya dumbfounded and said, "What do you mean?"

Jiraiya said, "Your parents designated me to take care of you should something happen to them." Naruto nodded slowly. "I'm not asking for your forgiveness since I really don't deserve it but you ought to have an explanation Naruto. Let me tell you the story surrounding your birth."

Seeing Naruto nod; Jiraiya took a deep breath and said, "When you were born you had the Kyubi sealed into you and someone leaked the secret. You know all about that and Sarutobi Sensei's law that kept everyone from talking about it. But there was an even bigger secret that painted a huge target on your back though….You are the Prince of Whirlpool. A lot of rich nobles wanted to plunder your homeland but as long as a single heir lived they couldn't touch it by orders of the Fire Daimyo. Someone spilled the beans, I'm pretty sure it was Shimura Danzo because he wanted to take you 'under his wing' for 'protection.' Are you with me so far?"

Naruto nodded and said, "Go on."

The Toad Sanin said, "You know I'm a spymaster. For the next several years I spread disinformation that the heir to Whirlpool wasn't in Konoha to keep you safe. I was always on the road and always fighting. A lot of people wanted you dead and I was determined to stomp every last one of them out. Those I couldn't throw off the trail or fool completely I exterminated to keep you safe. I felt like my job was almost done when a large group ambushed me after a night on the town. I'll be the first to admit it; I got sloppy. They declared they wanted you and _I got pissed_."

"I fought them tooth and nail to the last man but I was injured almost unto death. I passed out thinking it was all over….but the Toad Sages took me to Tsunade even though she had heamophobia they figured she was the only person that could save my life. When I woke up I was a mess of bandages and it took me months to recover. I thought about you, I thought about Sarutobi-sensei….but I mainly thought about Tsunade. She was a roaring alcoholic that was hiding out from debt collectors because of her gambling habits. By some miracle she'd overcome her fear of blood and saved me. I'd never seen her so low in my life…."

"….And I still loved her." said Jiraiya. "My job was done and I figured I'd head back to Konoha to see you but Tsunade was there in misery and I got selfish. I decided to take care of her and put you on hold. Eventually I was able to heal Tsunade like she healed me. I paid off her debts and got her to stop drinking. Then we fell in love, got married and had Mito. I could have come to get you at any time but I was so caught up in being a husband and a Father that I left your by the wayside. I kept paying your stipend but I all but lost touch with Konoha except for my duties as a spymaster. I could have come and picked you up. I _should_ have come and picked you up. Tsunade and I could have raised you with Mito….but I didn't."

Both of them sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. "For what it's worth; I am so sorry Uzumaki Naruto…." said Jiraiya with tears in his eyes. "I abandoned you when your Father Minato was like a son to me…."

Naruto was in tears. He slowly nursed his sake and drank two more before he said, "I don't know what to say Jiraiya. This is a lot to take in…."

The white haired man nodded and said, "If you want nothing to do with me I won't hold it against you….But if you'll let me I can teach you some of your Fathers jutsus at least. They are your birthright after all."

….

 **Natsume Clan Home**

Naruto came home mentally exhausted. He was pale. His eyes were bloodshot from crying and he didn't know what to do. Part of him was angry but most of him didn't hold a grudge. ' _I never had a Godfather growing up. You can't miss what you never had. He could teach me a lot….I'll talk to the girls_.' As it turned out Hikari was off duty and was visiting so Naruto decided to ask her opinion as well.

The blonde ninja sat down in his room with Maya, Hinata and Hikari. He explained the situation in detail. "I just don't know what to do girls; I'm completely at a loss."

Maya gently kissed him and said, "Give it some time. You need to put this all in perspective."

Hinata hugged Naruto from his other side and said, "I think you should give Jiraiya a chance though I'm being a hypocrite talking about forgiveness."

Squeezing Naruto's hand gently, Hikari said, "Naruto-kun, take a week to think about matters. You could learn a lot from Jiraiya-sama. At least learn your Father's jutsus."

Naruto nodded. "Thank you girls." he said tiredly. "It's been a long day."

….

 **Hokage Tower, Monday morning** ….

Yūgao led her Team in for a new mission. Naruto figured a good mission would clear his head about Jiraiya and put things into a proper point of view. The purple haired sword mistress led them up to the Hokage's desk and said to Tsunade, "Team 11 reporting for duty Hokage-sama. We'd like to request a C-ranked mission."

Tsunade nodded and looked over the available missions before she found an odd one. ' _Let's have Team 11 use their brains instead of overdoing it with their brawn like last mission_.' "There has been a strange series of murders in Otafuku Gai and the local Police Forces have requested ninja assistance. Could be bandits but it might be a minor missing nin or even a civilian killer. How does that sound?"

Yūgao turned to her Team and said, "This could be a good exercise in deductive reasoning team. Let's take it. Otafuku Gai is only a few miles away anyway. What do you say?"

The three ANBU Brats turned to each other and made eye contact before nodded to one another. Maya said, "We'll take it sensei. This sounds better than taking on S-Class missing nins anyway."

"Team 11 will take the Otafuku Gai mission Hokage-sama." said Yūgao.

….

POSTSCRIPT:

Looks like Team 11 is going to hit the road again; this time they are staying in Fire Country though. The Kazekage and his entourage have gone home after successful peace talks and the Caged bird seal is (secretly) a thing of the past. Next chapter is called _The Year of the Wolf_. See you next time. Blue out. 5/9/17


	39. Chapter 39

**Naruto: Curse of the Ryugan**

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

Well, I finally have a new computer on order so I won't have to update from a borrowed tablet anymore. That will be nice. I can also get back in touch with many I've been unable to message which will be great. Here is chapter 39. Enjoy!

[ ] signifies hand signs

Last time:

 ** _Hokage Tower, Monday morning_** _…._

 _Yūgao led her Team in for a new mission. Naruto figured a good mission would clear his head about Jiraiya and put things into a proper point of view. The purple haired sword mistress led them up to the Hokage's desk and said to Tsunade, "Team 11 reporting for duty Hokage-sama. We'd like to request a C-ranked mission."_

 _Tsunade nodded and looked over the available missions before she found an odd one. '_ _Let's have Team 11 use their brains instead of overdoing it with their brawn like last mission_ _.' "There has been a strange series of murders in Otafuku Gai and the local Police Forces have requested ninja assistance. Could be bandits but it might be a minor missing nin or even a civilian killer. How does that sound?"_

 _Yūgao turned to her Team and said, "This could be a good exercise in deductive reasoning team. Let's take it. Otafuku Gai is only a few miles away anyway. What do you say?"_

 _The three ANBU Brats turned to each other and made eye contact before nodded to one another. Maya said, "We'll take it sensei. This sounds better than taking on S-Class missing nins anyway."_

 _"Team 11 will take the Otafuku Gai mission Hokage-sama." said Yūgao_.

….

 **Chapter 39**

 **Fire Country, Konoha, Yakushi Kabuto's apartment**

Yakushi Kabuto was sweating. He had quietly observed the Suna Delegation the whole time they were in Konoha and it seemed that the Kazekage was very reluctant about visiting when he arrived but the entire Suna group seemed to be in high spirits when they left. As Kabuto had no contacts within the Suna group he could only report what he saw from a distance. Sadly that didn't amount to much. He knew the Kazekage and his children (together or separately) had all visited the Natsume Estate presumably to talk to Hyūga Hanako-sama.

' _Orochimaru-sama told me to avoid Hanako-sama at all costs though he didn't say why_.' thought the glasses wearing ninja. ' _Of course, the old woman is one of Tsunade's advisors along with Sarutobi-sama so it's a sure thing she's no weakling_.' He sighed. ' _Rumor has it she put Danzo to death in single combat but I find that hard to believe. The public executions of Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu was shocking enough but the announcement that ROOT was disbanded and that Shimura Danzo was already put to death for treason shook me to the core_.'

Kabuto gathered his thoughts. ' _All of the former ROOT bases I know of have been sealed off and breaking those seals has proven impossible. I can only assume Jiraiya did it though my evidence is all circumstantial. Of course; who else knows seals well enough to do that except Jiraiya? I even tried to get into Danzo's estate but it has also been sealed so only ANBU can get in and out. What am I going to tell Orochimaru-sama?_ '

The silver haired medic began his report to Orochimaru….

….

 **Konoha Front Gates**

Team 11 was packed for a two week journey and armed to the teeth. Yūgao looked at her team and thought with more than a bit of pride; ' _My team of genins is the best. I can't wait to see how the other ANBU Brats are doing_.' The team of four set out running at an easy pace in a diamond formation with Hinata on point. Otafuku Gai was only eight miles away so the Byakugan Princess could see their path all the way to town easily. They reached Otafuku Gai in about twenty minutes flat.

"We'll need to check in with the local Lord who is our client." said Yūgao. "Afterwards we'll check with the Otafuku Gai Samurai and see the details on this case."

They came into the gates and talked to the guards that were standing on duty. The guards looked a bit skittish but relaxed when they say the black forehead protectors with the Konoha symbol on them. "Welcome Konoha ninjas" said one of the guards. "I'm Itsuki and this here is Juro. We're the front gate guards of the Fun Fun Street Pleasure Quarter."

' _Pleasure Quarter?_ ' thought the three genins.

"Lord Hare Chō is expecting you." said Itsuki. "His estate is all the way at the end of the Pleasure Quarter. It's light green so you can't miss it."

Juro added, "I'm sure he'll be as glad to see you as we are."

After getting their paperwork processed the four ninjas set out to the estate of Lord Hare and were soon standing in front of it. "Well, it _is_ light green." said Maya with a sweat drop.

Naruto chuckled. "You mean it looks like a giant pastel birthday cake."

Yūgao saw the doorman(?) there coming out to greet them. "Can I help you?" he asked. He had a large upturned nose and seemed snooty from the way he carried himself.

The purple haired sword mistress said, "I'm Uzuki Yūgao and this is Team 11. We are the ninja team from Konoha that Lord Hare requested. I was just admiring the architecture before we came in."

The man said, "Yes the Lord's tastes are * _cough*atrocious*cough*_ unique. I'm Katsu, the butler and bodyguard to Lord Hare. Please come in."

Katsu led them in quickly to see the Lord of Otafuku Gai. Lord Hare was sitting at a low table and was very heavy set….Much like an Akimichi without any of the muscle. He wore thin rimmed round glasses and had a walrus moustache. He also sported an awful toupee. Katsu said, "May I present Uzuki Yūgao and her ninja team. They are here as you requested my Lord."

' _Something crawled up on top of his head and died there_.' thought Maya and Naruto as they stared at the toupee.

Hinata was doing her best not to look an Yūgao had a mental blinder on. ' _I see_ _ **nothing**_ _there_.' thought the purple haired kunoichi to herself. "I bid you greetings Lord Hare. My team and I are at your service." She handed him the scroll with their orders and awaited his reaction as he read over the paperwork.

The heavy set man adjusted his glasses and said in a stuffy voice, "Quite right. Go to the Captain of our guards Masaru and get all the details of this nasty business. I trust you can take care of this without delay." He dismissed them without further ado and the butler Katsu gave them directions to the main guard station across town.

 **Otafuku Gai, Guard's Station**

"I'm Captain Masaru." said the graying head guard as he shook hands with Yūgao and her team. "We are glad you are here. I all but had to beg Lord Hare to hire you ninjas to help. My men and I can't crack this case and we don't see any shame in calling for outside help when we need it."

"Can you give us the details of the situation?" asked Yūgao. "Other than ' _a strange series of murders_ ' we haven't been informed of the circumstances."

Masaru nodded. "Of course. Let me get you a map of town. There have been five murders. All of them have been prostitutes and all of them have been _torn apart_ and eaten in part."

"Torn apart and eaten by what?" asked Naruto.

"We think dogs but they'd have to be _big_ dogs." said the guard Captain with a shudder. "It's a grisly mess."

They looked over the map and saw the numerous hotels and gambling and entertainment venues. The five X marks showing where the murders took place were spread throughout the town. Yūgao said, "Which is the most recent murder?"

Masaru pointed to a brothel and said, "That would be the brothel owned by Madam Megumi. One of her girls named Kiku was killed three days ago. I'll have one of my men take you there." he handed Yūgao a copy of the map and said, "Good luck."

A guard introduced himself as Kitashi and offered to lead them to the first murder scene. Yūgao nodded and said, "Lead the way Kitashi." She motioned to Team 11 and said. "Eyes and ears open people. No detail is too small."

 **Megumi's Home of Wayward Women**

"Quite a name for a brothel." said Hinata in a flat tone.

Naruto sweat dropped. The smell of the place was atrocious. Kitashi rang the bell and a woman in her fifties came out wearing heavy makeup and perfume. "Ah, young Kitashi. Finally decided to lose your virginity eh? That girlfriend of yours is much too naive."

Kitashi face palmed and said, "Madam Megumi; I'm here with this team of Konoha ninjas about the murder."

Megumi looked over the group and said, "Oh my yes! Poor Kiku was one of my most popular girls. She was a terrible loss to me personally." The fifty year old woman lit up a cigarette and said, "Please follow me upstairs."

As the older woman blew smoke rings she led them past several rooms with girls peeking out through cracked doorways. There was a feeling of fear permeating the building as the ninjas marched though. After going up two flights of stairs Madam Megumi led them across a noticeably empty floor that had one room taped off. Megumi pulled out a key and said, I'll unlock it for you but I can't bear to go in."

Given the stench of death was atrocious even out in the hall Yūgao pulled up her facemask to filter the smell and her three genins followed suit. When the door was opened Kitashi cringed as he stared inside. Yūgao put her hand on his shoulder and said, "Wait here while we examine the premises." Kitashi nodded with obvious relief etched on his face.

As the four ninjas entered Kiku's room they saw the tape marks were the body parts had been. Yūgao said, "Check every nook a cranny people." The bed was demolished and the mattress was torn with its contents spread throughout the room. Bloodstains were everywhere including the ceiling.

Naruto started checking the torn open window and Yūgao checked where the torso of the body had been. Hinata had her byakugan active and Maya was checking the entryway which was _not_ forced. The blonde motioned towards the window and said, "This window was torn open from the outside. Hinata-chan…?"

Hinata looked at the window that had a ripped screen that was supposed to keep insects out. "It was ripped open to gain entry by a hand equipped with claws. It was torn out further when the person exited. Check outside Naruto-kun."

The blonde nodded and slipped outside. He walked on the outside of the building and inspected it thoroughly before he walked down the side of the outer wall.

Maya said, "Sensei, this imprint in mud….it looks like a wolf's or a huge dog's and it's stained with blood."

Yūgao looked at the red paw print and said, "It doesn't look quite right either. It looks like a drawing. Shame we don't have an Inuzuka tracker that knows paw prints."

Naruto poked his head in though the torn window and said, "We're dealing with a ninja of some sort. It's faint but I found the trail leading from the ground up to the window."

Maya frowned. "It would make more sense to roof hop. Did you check the roof Naruto-kun?"

"I'll head up." said the blonde.

Yūgao added, "Check for paw prints or hair as well." Naruto nodded and started looking higher up.

Thirty minutes later all four ninjas were having an impromptu meeting out in the hall. "All the evidence we have of wolves or dogs is inside the room and has mud around it." said Yūgao.

"Could our ninja have summoned the dogs to help him after sneaking in?" asked Maya.

Naruto got out a sealing scroll a said, "Let's find out. I'll make a seal to detect a space time jutsu used in the last week."

Yūgao said, "I didn't know they made a seal for that Naruto-kun."

The blonde said as he worked; "They don't as far as I know. I'm modifying one to serve that purpose."

' _I should have known_ ….' thought all three kunoichis as one.

Ten minutes later Naruto placed his new seal and said, "Fuin." Tendrils of chakra shot out in a spider web pattern as in to snare an elusive jutsu. After a few minutes Naruto stopped feeding chakra to the seal and said, "Nothing. No summoning took place here. Our wolves got here some other way."

Maya shook her head. "So much for that idea."

Yūgao was talking with Madam Megumi. "Well the sounds and the screaming were horrifying of course but there were no sounds of dogs or wolves or whatever." said the Madam. "It was obvious from Kiku's poor body they were there though…."

"We'd best examine the body then." said the purple haired sword mistress.

 **Guard's Station -Morgue**

"I can tell you it's not pretty." said Captain Masaru. "It's obvious she was torn apart by dogs even if it doesn't make much sense."

Yūgao nodded and said, "Regardless we need to check the corpse. Even if we aren't forensics specialists there may be some clues."

….

It was a grisly job but everyone kept the contents of their stomachs down. "More mud but no signs of hair; broken teeth or anything else foreign." said Hinata looking a bit green. "All damage to the body points towards animals."

"There is no evidence that a human was even involved in the murder." said Maya. "There was no evidence of rape either but then again it's hard to say without further surgical examination on that front."

"I doubt that was an issue in this case." said Yugao. "That was one of the few parts of the corpse untouched. We really don't have a motive at this point."

Naruto sighed, "Did any of these girls have anything else in common other than their line of work? Looks, age, anything?"

Yugao looked at the dossiers that the guards had assembled on each victim. "They were all under twenty five years of age and prostitutes. They were all known in their own social circles."

"What about the other four bodies?" asked Maya.

Kitashi said, "We can only preserve things for so long. They were cremated."

Hinata sighed. "We need to examine the other murder scenes then."

The guard nodded. "They are all similar but I'll take you to them."

….

Over the next day the ninjas investigated the other four murder scenes that where roped off.

"….More dried mud…." said Naruto. "Has anyone else noticed or is there no mud to be tracked in? The streets are mainly brick and it hasn't rained recently."

Hinata looked outside and then looked at the mud. She pressed into the imprint with a kunai and said, "I assumed the red color was blood stains. We've missed something obvious. This is _red clay_."

Yūgao face palmed and said, "Clay jutsus. We're dealing with someone from Iwa. They mainly use special chakra conductive clays. One of the common types is blood red."

"That would explain why the tracks don't look right and why there is no hair or other foreign matter either." said Maya.

"So we theoretically have an Iwa ninja killing prostitutes." said Naruto. "Now we have to figure out why."

"Were any of those girls originally from Iwa?" asked Hinata.

"Good question…." said Yūgao. "Let's find out."

….

Captain Masaru looked puzzled and said, "From Iwa you say? Let me get in the archives and pull out their citizenship papers…."

The ninjas quietly conversed among themselves and Maya said, "Spies from Iwa perhaps?"

"If that's the case we need to verify with Jiraiya-sama." said Yūgao. "Naruto, we could send a bird but it would be faster to run flat out. You know Jiraiya-sama better than the rest of us so head out now."

Naruto gave a thumbs up and rocketed off in a trail of dust.

Masaru came back and said, "All five of the victims were reported as being from Fire Country but no background checks were done because of their occupation. It was simply word of mouth."

Hinata had her byakugan active and reported, "Naruto-kun is already outside the Otafuku Gai gates."

"It's alright." replied Yūgao. "Jiraiya-sama may know something that we don't. The ninja may have already blown out of town after accomplishing their mission."

….

 **Konoha, Senju Compound**

Jiraiya was a bit surprised to see Naruto there so soon after their last visit. He greeted Naruto and asked, "What brings you by? I thought you were on a mission in Otafuka Gai."

Naruto nodded and said, "I am. We think an Iwa ninja is killing spies posing as prostitutes. Do you know of any in Otafuku Gai?"

The white haired sanin sweat dropped and said, "There are at least two dozen that fit that description in Otafuku Gai Naruto. Bars and brothels are the best places to get information as a spy."

Naruto's eyes widened before Jiraiya held up a hand and said, "Come inside. I trust you have a list of the victims?" When the blonde nodded Jiraiya motioned him into the compound.

It wasn't long before the two men were sitting at a table in Jiraiya's office going over the list. The Toad hermit had out a list of contacts and said, "There are seven Iwa spies in Otafuku Gai, each one of these five girls were loyal citizens of Iwa."

"Why didn't you wipe them out then?" asked Naruto in shock.

The spymaster smiled and said, "Because that's not the way the game is played Naruto. If a potential war with Iwa broke out then we'd capture them but right now it's best to feed them false information so they'll report it back to Iwa. Sometimes spies become double agents and sell information to both sides. "Spies, even enemy ones, are useful. That's the nature of espionage."

Naruto blinked and asked, "Still, isn't that a security risk?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "Everything is a security risk in the spy game. These five girls that died….I'm sorry to say they were pretty much innocent. They didn't have high level secrets and only one of the two remaining does. She's a double agent and has leaked a great deal about Iwa to me. It's her they are after. Whoever is killing those girls only knows there is a leak and in order to plug it he or she is killing them all."

Naruto asked, "Who is she then?"

Jiraiya pulled out a dossier and said, "She goes by Momo but her real name is Futaba Minori. She's been feeding me information and disinformation for years so she's a bit of a puzzle. I suspect whoever is killing those girls has her on their list. Looks like we'll have to extract her. Spies of her caliber don't grow on trees you know."

Naruto looked at the picture on the dossier and saw a very pretty young woman. The dossier showed she was about twenty three. The blonde's gut reaction was ' _What a waste_.' "So how do we extract her Jiraiya?"

The Toad sanin pondered a moment and said, "You'll go to see her with the appropriate coded message and offer to get her out of there. If she agrees then you pull her out pronto. If she doesn't agree then you report it back to me and observe her with your team. Have you identified who is after her aside of an Iwa ninja?"

Naruto shook his head. "He or she uses red clay for clay jutsus and makes dogs or wolves of clay to tear the victims apart from what we've gathered."

"Is the head left intact?" asked Jiraiya.

"The head was _missing_ on the one body that is left." said Naruto. "The others were already cremated."

"Odds are you are dealing with a member of the Akahitsu clan that is serving as an Iwa Hunter Nin then." said Jiraiya. "Seems kind of overkill but the Tsuchikage Onoki can be kind of heavy handed at times. Find out if the other girl's heads were missing. If they were then I'm pretty positive it's a hunter nin. They always take the heads whether it's a military target or not."

Naruto thought about hunter nins for a moment and asked, "Shouldn't they have destroyed the bodies then?"

The white haired man shook his head. "If it was a former Iwa nin they were after then yes; but a low to mid level spy's body wouldn't require it. They have no state secrets on their bodies."

The blonde seal master asked, "So this extraction; are you going to be involved?"

"No; I'm well known in Otafuku Gai so the minute I showed up your killer would blow out of town." explained Jiraiya. "Team 11 is more than capable of pulling this off. Let me get you the appropriate passwords…."

….

 **Konoha, Yakushi Kabuto's apartment**

While Naruto was conversing with Jiraiya, Yakushi Kabuto was finishing up his report to Orochimaru….

 _…._

 _Orochimaru-sama-_

 _The nature of the talks between the Hokage and Kazekage are still a well guarded secret but rumor has it that Konoha and Suna have reached a new trade agreement that will help Suna financially. Also, the Kazekage's daughter Temari seems to have entered a relationship with the jinchuriki of the nine tails, Uzumaki Naruto. Whether this will influence the Kazekage's intentions on the upcoming war in debatable. He could be using his daughter to lure Uzumaki away from Konoha but as an untrained jinchuriki Uzumaki doesn't pose a huge threat anyway._

 _In the last week I have thoroughly checked every last ROOT Base I know of and all have been sealed presumably by Jiraiya-sama. I have confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt that Shimura Danzo is indeed dead. During my rounds at the hospital the forensics team spoke of dissecting Danzo's body and the arm and sharingan eyes he had implanted. There is no way that he would reveal that alive. I have also heard rumors that it was Hyūga Hanako-sama killed him in single combat but I have no way to confirm this without spying more directly on the Natsume Estate she is living at._

 _Our spies in Konoha have nearly all been eliminated and the many of the ones spread out through Fire Country have gone silent. I believe this is due to Jiraiya's spy network. The guard and barrier teams have been beefed up considerably since Tsunade-sama took her position as Hokage. I have no evidence as to why other than she is more militant than the Third Hokage was._

 _I have not been able to discover any more about Uchiha Sasuke since the failed attempt to extract him with our false ROOT squad. I have followed up on the ANBU kunoichi that has the scorch release and it is a dead end at the hospital. I can only assume her secret has been buried deep for a long time but other than ANBU Headquarters there are no records to be found._

 _I await your further instructions._

 _Your humble servant,_

 _Yakushi Kabuto_

….

Kabuto finished translation his report into the latest Oto cipher and burned the original with a small fire jutsu. Sending the bird out by messenger hawk; he was finished for the day.

All Kabuto could do now was sit back and wait….

….

 **Otafuku Gai, that night** ….

Naruto nervously entered the brothel _The Painted Lady_ that 'Momo' worked in under henge as a normal teenager. The Madam grinned at his obvious shakiness and asked, "First timer?"

The blonde pulled out five hundred ryos (courtesy of Jiraiya) and said, "I'm here to see Momo."

The woman raised her eyebrows and said, "Ummm, Momo might be little too wild for someone inexperienced."

Naruto shrugged. "I can handle myself."

The Madam giggled, "You are a brave young man." She snapped her fingers and said, "Nami take this young man up to see Momo. She has a new toy."

The now named Nami escorted Naruto up the stairs to a room and knocked. She said shakily, "Miss Momo, you have a customer."

"Ohohoho!" A woman's laughter was heard from beyond the door. "Send him in Nami dearest. The door is unlocked."

"Y-yes Ma'am!" said Nami. "Please go on in sir. Good luck!" Nami took off like a bat out of hell.

Naruto thought, ' _What has her so spooked?_ ' He opened the door to a large room full of whips, chains, muzzles and a lot of paraphernalia he could not identify. The room looked like a dungeon with 'barred' windows (obviously fake). Momo was lounged on her bed in black leather gear with spikes and chains. She was brandishing a bullwhip and said, "So you are my toy for tonight little boy. I hope you are prepared to serve your Mistress well. Ohohoho!"

Naruto face palmed and thought, ' _Gods above. She's a friggin' dominatrix_.'

She cracked her whip menacingly and said, "On your knees boy! Your Mistress commands it!"

Naruto said, "The Toad eats the fly before he can land on your lily pad."

Momo suddenly looked wide eyed and said in a small voice; "You're with Jiraiya? I-"

A red clay wolf crashed through a barred window and headed right towards Momo with its jaws wide open. Naruto body switched with Momo and had his family blades out. The wolf was cut into fourths by a pair of wind blades in an x-shaped slash. A hunter nin was coming in the window when the weakened wind blades plowed into her and cut her and the surrounding wall up badly. "Agggggggh! God damn it!" she shrieked as she fell back outside.

Yūgao and the others saw the enemy kunoichi appear as well as her bloody altercation with Naruto. When the kunoichi hit the ground she went through some hand signs and vanished. The purple haired sword Mistress said, "Shit! Hiding camouflage technique!"

"I'm on it sensei!" said Hinata. She activated her byakugan as four clay wolves emerged from the area the kunoichi ran to. The three kunoichis of Team 11 soon were trading blows with the wolves in a furious sword/claw fight in the darkened street.

Yūgao had one of the wolves bisected and was fighting a second one when Maya flipped completely over the wolf she was fighting. The silver haired kunoichi was airborne and whispered, "Shuriken shadow clone jutsu!" The three shuriken she threw multiplied into fifty and peppered the wounded Iwa kunoichi. The clay wolves fell apart before the girls and Yūgao rushed over to the downed hunter nin.

Looking at the grievous wounds the purple haired sword mistress radioed her team. "Target is down, repeat; target is down. Hinata, get over here. Everyone be on guard for more hostiles. Naruto, stay with the enemy's target just in case."

"Hai sensei!" answered Team 11.

Hinata moved forward and Yūgao asked, "Can you save the hunter nin? We could use her alive you know."

The Byakugan Princess shook her head and said, "She's already gone, she had a suicide pill in a fake tooth from what I can tell here in the dark with my byakugan….this is a job for forensics now."

The samurai guards arrived quickly after that and within the hour the body of the Iwa nin was sealed up by Naruto in a scroll for transport.

'Momo' (or Futaba Minori) requested to return to Konoha with Team 11 to see Jiraiya so she could hopefully relocate or quit being a spy and live in Konoha.

Team 11's mission in Otafuku Gai was mostly over….

….

 **Otafuku Gai, Wednesday morning** ….

Yūgao and the others were rather shocked seeing 'Momo' outside of her _work attire_ and in a kimono. She looked surprisingly normal without her wild makeup and x-rated clothing. She said, "Please just call me Minori. I think it's safe to say _Momo_ is dead."

Naruto just cringed at the memories…. ' _Tight leather outfits are one thing but whips and chains are quite another_.' thought the blonde.

Hinata wondered how the hell such a (apparently) mild mannered girl ended up as a cackling dominatrix but decided it would be better not to ask. ' _Maybe it was all just an act_ ….' thought the Hyūga heiress.

Yūgao finished up their mission by speaking with Captain Masaru and getting the reluctant Lord Hare Chō to sign off that the job was complete. "All this money for a bunch of hookers…." griped the overweight Lord. He signed his name with flourish before handing it back to Yūgao. "Inform your Hokage that the job was well done just as I asked."

Yūgao bowed and said, "By your leave Lord Hare." Being dismissed the purple haired kunoichi met up with her team at the town gates and escorted Futaba Minori/Momo back to Konoha….

….

 **Rice Country, Oto Village, Orochimaru's Headquarters**

The Snake sanin was carefully reading over Kabuto's latest report. "Suna and Konoha are entering a trade agreement…." he thought aloud. ' _Hmmm….I need to verify this with my contacts in Suna. Just what is going on Rasa? Using your own daughter to lure away the Kyubi brat is quite a bold move. All of this could be to support the upcoming war effort or it could be a way to avoid the war and betray me. I'll have to figure out a way to contact Rasa in person and find out the truth of the matter_.'

As he looked over the rest of the letter he sighed seeing Danzo had been eliminated. ' _That old crook had his uses but obviously he ran out of tricks. Kabuto-kun doesn't have any idea how dangerous old Lady Hanako is. It wouldn't surprise me if she saw through Danzo and decided to take him out. Unlike Sarutobi-sensei she has zero tolerance for treason_ ….' "Seeing her active again is truly regrettable. I don't know why she would have come out of retirement after all these years and become an advisor to Tsunade but I need to reiterate to Kabuto-kun to avoid that old woman at all costs."

Orochimaru had a lot to think about….

….

 **Fire Country, Konoha, Hokage Tower**

"….And that concludes Team 11's verbal report Hokage-sama." said Yūgao. "The mission went far smoother than I estimated but if we hadn't been so close to home and weren't able to contact Jiraiya-sama about the matter then it wouldn't have worked out so well."

Tsunade nodded and said, "Never look a gift horse in the mouth Yūgao. You and your Team did well and combating an enemy ninja bumps it up to B rank. A three day turnaround is good for such an investigation. Turn the red clay you sampled and the body over to forensics. Jiraiya and I will decide how we can help out Miss Futaba. You are dismissed."

Yūgao turned to Team 11 and said, "Lunch is on me guys. Let's go eat Team 11!" She chuckled as the three genins cheered. ' _I really do have a great bunch of kids_ ….'

….

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, how about that? A one chapter mission that didn't evolve into a multi chapter saga! Honestly I have a hard time believing it worked out that way. Naruto learned a bit about the spy business this chapter and Team 11 was able to solve the mystery without incurring further injury from S-Class missing nins. See you next time. Blue out. 5/13/17


End file.
